Dear colleagues,
On 29 December The National Archives (TNA) will publish its guidance on
Freedom of Information (FOI) and deposited public records. This guidance
will be relevant to places of deposit, which hold deposited public records
on behalf of the Lord Chancellor, and to public records bodies, which
transfer public records to places of deposit. The guidance will be
available from 29 December as a pdf document on TNA's website at the
following address:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/policy/foi/
Under the FOI Act the Lord Chancellor has issued two Codes of Practice
which deal with a) the management of records, including (in Part 2 of the
s.46 Code) the review and transfer of public records and b) with handling
requests for information held in public records (the s.45 Code). The two
Codes provide a framework of good practice in these areas. TNA's guidance
publication sets out in greater detail the procedures and principles which
public records bodies and places of deposit should seek to follow within
that good practice framework. Public records bodies and places of deposit
should be equally aware of both sections of this guidance, as it is in both
parties’ interests that the business of reviewing, transferring, and
managing deposited public records is carried out efficiently and to mutual
agreement.
The guidance has been prepared by TNA in collaboration with a working group
consisting of representatives of places of deposit and public records
bodies. Please note that the publication does not attempt to provide
guidance on the application of specific exemptions in relation to requests
for information: the appropriate sources of detailed information on the
application of exemptions are those published by the Department for
Constitutional Affairs and by the Information Commissioner. Also please
note that although feedback from our consultation exercise in June suggests
that many aspects of the guidance are applicable to non-public records,
TNA's guidance is intended at this stage to relate only to public records.
The guidance will be reviewed periodically, beginning with a meeting of the
working group in February 2005, and further editions may be issued as a
result. TNA will publish any further editions on its website in the first
instance.
Steven Jones
Head of Archive Inspection Services
The National Archives
Kew
Surrey
TW 9 4DU
Tel: 020 8392 5318
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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