I think it is important to stress that there is no definitive right way or
wrong way to handle these "local management files".
From how you have described them, I would not regard them as "corporate
records" in the sense that the business needs to keep them as corporate
evidence of activity. They fall into the category of information that is
needed by users to get on with their jobs.
The first step is to identify where you wish to keep such information -
either as part of the "corporate storage" or outside in local structures
under local control. If under local control, this may result in some
duplication but the costs of this duplication are probably cheaper than the
cost of trying to maintain corporate control. If you have examples of
material held by most departments, then this probably should be stored
centrally.
These days I would try and encourage such information to be held
electronically rather than in physical form. Encourage this by restricting
the amount of physical storage space available and enforce this restriction.
Search tools can help users to find the information they need.
The next step is to find a simple way to enforce some form of retention
schedule for this information. My experience suggests that most items kept
in this way do not need to be kept that long. Usually there are a few items
which are used for longer periods, possibly these can be identified and held
separately.
On the slightly separate issue of management items within the LGCS - as Paul
Dodgson has indicated, I believe it is important to see the LGCS as the
starting point, not a finished item that can be directly applied to a local
authority. Linking retention guidance to the LGCS will help to increase the
value of the LGCS, but will also probably highlight some of its weaknesses
and identify where it can be improved. As has been correctly pointed out,
the "internal" functions of all organisations (HR, IT, Finance, Facilities
Management) tend to be largely similar.
Richard Jeffrey-Cook
Managing Director
In-Form Consult Ltd
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www.inform-consult.com
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