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Henry VIII signature. Cat ref: SP 9/242

Henry VIII signature. Cat ref: SP 9/242

Girl in a tree, 1888. Cat ref: COPY 1/394

Custody of digital records

The National Archives is the principal repository for those records of central government (Public Record bodies) of historical importance. [For information on circumstances in which public records of local or specialist interest, selected for permanent preservation at the archives, will be presented to other archival institutions, please refer to the Disposition policy].

  • The Public Records Act document, opens in a new window (247.42kb) requires these records normally to reach us by the time they are 30 years old. In the digital environment, most will need to be transferred far earlier than this or there is a danger they may not survive.
  • Following a full public consultation exercise, we have agreed a new Custodial policyPDF document, opens in a new window (162.775kb) for digital records that sets out how this will work in the future. This should be read in conjunction with the information already linked from this page, plus the Acquisition and Appraisal Policies linked from the Selection area of this website.

The main thrust of the Policy is to confirm the roles and responsibilities of The National Archives and Government Departments to take care of the records in changing technological circumstances. This duty derives from the Public Records Act 1958. Irrespective of which organization is holding the records, access to the information contained in them will be determined by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 1992 (2004 revision pending).

In some other countries, there have been experiments with distributed custody of historical resources. Where this involves the continued holding of archival material by the creating organisation, this is sometimes referred to as the "post-custodial model". This will only be pursued for parts of the national archival collection in exceptional circumstances. These circumstances might include where there is a compelling continuing business need for the creating Department to retain access to its material and technical or cost constraints rendering the holding of the material by both impracticable. An example might be a complex meteorological or geographic database.

The Policy will be followed by bi-lateral transfer agreements between The National Archives and Public Record Bodies. These will set out the timing of the transfer of their records to us, bearing in mind the security and other considerations outlined in Section 7 of the Policy affecting their business and its information.

Where it is not possible for some good reason for the records to be transferred to the archives within 10 years of creation, Departments must take steps to ensure the records have the same standard of care they would have had in the archives. Alternatively, where the records are required for an extended period for business purposes but are not worthy of permanent preservation, it is important that Departments follow the advice of The National Archives in their treatment.

We have also published generic requirements for the sustainability of digital records by public record bodies for extended periods.

For any further enquiries about the custody of digital records, email: e-records@nationalarchives.gov.ukEmail link

 

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