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Interestingly we have been having a very similar discussion at the Council about our elected members where do you draw the line. I would suggest that a Minister can have Four hats 1. His work as a minister 2. His work and an elected representative 3. A member of a political party 4. A private citizen Each of which have different issues. As a minister he is effectively working as a civil servant therefore should not be using anything other than designated official channels to undertake that role which are open to FoI As an elected representative he is a Data controller and issues he has between him and his constituents are private between the two unless decided to be made public by agreement As a member of a political party he works for a private organisation/company As a citizen that's his personal choice what he does with that information. however the issue is always that in this modern day where communication is so easy things may cross over and a Minister needs the appropriate training on information management to guide his way through a mine field. it used to be so easy they had designated brief cases to hold official papers maybe this system should be looked at to see if it is transferable. Just my Friday thoughts Rob ________________________________ From: The Information and Records Management Society mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lawrence Serewicz Sent: 01 June 2012 14:02 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: If a minister writes an email on their personal email is it a public record? Dear All, I was wondering if anyone had any experience in this area and could help. As you may know some of the ministers in the UK (Gove and Hunt) have relied on private email accounts to conduct email exchanges on public business to avoid being held for the purposes of the FOIA. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with defining a public record and could shed light on the issue If what the minister, as minister, writes *can be considered a public record* (after all a minister has the power to bind the country to a course of action based upon what he agrees through his delegated authority from Parliament and on from the Crown) then no matter the media, it is held *as a public record.*. See the public records act 1958. The National Archives 1999 guidance note on the issue is instructive. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/whatisapublicrecord.pdf 4 Definition of public records 4.1 Public Records are defined in section 10 (1) of the Public Records Act, 1958, and the First Schedule of that Act. 'Records' in general are defined as carriers of information in any format (e.g. paper, photographic, film, sound, electronic, three dimensional models) (section 10(1)). 'Public Records' are specifically defined in the First Schedule; these definitions are summarised overleaf. [emphasis added]. Here is section 10 (1) 10 Interpretation.E+W+S+N.I. (1)In this Act "public records" has the meaning assigned to it by the First Schedule to this Act and "records" includes not only written records but records conveying information by any other means whatsoever. The question comes down to whether he was writing as a minister or as a private individual (or as a political party member). If what the minister writes, as minister (not as private individual (or political party member), is consider a record [he is acting on instruction from Her Majesty in running his Ministerial Department], then no matter where he writes it [on a personal email account or in his diary] it is a public record. If it is a public record, then it is held for the purposes of the Act. The issue, then is whether he was discussing public business, i.e. acting as minister. If he was, then I would argue he has created a public record, which would be held by the Government for the purposes of the Act. I would be interested to know what others think. Thanks Lawrence Principal Information Management Officer Durham County Council Room 4/140 County Hall County Durham DH1 5UF 03000 268038 ________________________________ Help protect our environment by only printing this email if absolutely necessary. The information it contains and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are only intended for the person or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may be unlawful for you to use, share or copy the information, if you are not authorised to do so. If you receive this email by mistake, please inform the person who sent it at the above address and then delete the email from your system. Durham County Council takes reasonable precautions to ensure that its emails are virus free. 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