sorry, everyone, the lines spaces between paragraphs disappeared in
cyberspace. Here is an easier to read version!
Susan Healy
> This afternoon the National Archives has launched a consultation exercise
> on whether we need to revise our national records and archives
> legislation.
>
> Print copies are on their way to a wide range of stakeholders - all UK
> government departments, all local authorities, all places of deposit for
> public records, members of the Advisory Council, the Inter-departmental
> Archives Committee and the Archives Task Force, the devolved
> administrations, professional societies and bodies such as the National
> Council on Archives, and user groups.
>
> If you can't wait for a print copy, or are not on that list, you can read
> it on our website, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk under What's new.
>
> We believe the consultation is relevant to a wide range of people and
> organisations. This includes all those who use information, records and
> archives, whether for business, research or leisure. It includes everyone
> in the wider public sector whose organisation depends on records, and who
> is creating and needs to manage and store digital records as well as more
> traditional formats. And it includes the tax payer, who has a legitimate
> concern for the proper and effective use of public funds. That, we
> believe, means that potentially it affects all of us. So we hope you will
> be able to devote some time to answering some of the questions it raises.
>
> It is a lengthy document, and we apologise for that, but it covers a wide
> range of issues which are critical to getting our public sector
> information management processes into proper perspective and order. We
> have tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. Please, if you cannot
> or do not feel the need to consider all aspects of the paper, just
> concentrate on those that most concern you or relate to your own
> responsibilities.
>
> It is almost half a century since the last major piece of records and
> archive legislation, the Public Records Act 1958, was conceived. Since
> then there have been huge changes in the world of records and archives, as
> we have moved into the 'information age'. Now, the citizen expects -
> whether for business, leisure or research - rapid access to accurate
> information and our public bodies are increasingly judged on their ability
> to store, manage and recover their information, especially when it is in
> digital form. The volumes of information we hold have increased
> enormously. In the public sector, the demands and standards for public
> services, and the range of subjects they cover, have also grown. So have
> requirements for accountability, audit and governance purposes. We are
> subject to new legislation, such as the Freedom of Information and Data
> Protection Acts. All of these things are rooted in the information we
> hold, and our ability to manage it, to retrieve it when we need to, and
> dispose of it properly when we are finished with it, whether to
> destruction or to an archive.
>
> There is growing anxiety about our ability to cope with all of this. It
> was chiefly the need to deal with the growth in digital records, and
> systems to manage them, that first made us question whether the records
> and archives legislation we have is still adequate, and to seek a review.
> With the agreement of our Minister, the Lord Chancellor, we have worked
> over many months, with many colleagues both inside central government and
> in the broader public sector, to review the overall position. As we have
> done so, more of us have become convinced that there are significant
> issues we need to consider. These issues, set out in this consultation
> document, affect government at central, regional and local levels as well
> as related bodies such as executive agencies and non-departmental public
> bodies.
>
> When this consultation is complete we will digest and analyse all comments
> and responses we have received and we will publish our analysis. From
> that analysis we will also produce proposals on records management and
> archives in the public sector, for Ministers to consider.
>
> Nothing is yet decided. Of the various suggestions put forward in the
> consultation paper, all or none may go forward as part of our eventual
> proposals. There is no commitment at this stage to new primary
> legislation, and we will aim to make any necessary changes by the simplest
> effective means available. Your views will play an important part in the
> development of proposals, so please do let us know what you think.
>
> Susan Healy
> National Archives
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