Partner Article

Information managers lose decade tracking papers for release

The timeframe for releasing archived records into the public domain has changed from 30 years to 20. To most people, changing a requirement from a very long time to a long time doesn’t sound that dramatic. But for the organisations charged with meeting that commitment, it’s a big step. Now a study[i] reveals that one in three public sector bodies doesn’t even realise the law has changed. The National Archives, whose vast vaults take delivery of all those documents, appears to have quite a challenge on its hands.

The reason behind the rule is the Government’s commitment to greater transparency. Among the many tens of thousands of documents transferred to The National Archives you will find the minutes of Cabinet meetings and other internal government files, notes and studies. This is not just the minutiae of democracy in action; it’s the evidence of what decisions were made about the big political and global issues of the day, who made them and how; and what information was collected, about who and why.

Under the 30-year rule, 2014 revealed to us the government debates around the 1984 Miners’ strike or the IRA bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Under the 20 year rule this year would also have revealed what went on behind closed doors in 1994, the year that the Channel Tunnel opened for business and the IRA declared a cease-fire.

All this depends on public sector bodies tracking down the relevant papers, preparing them for release and submitting them to the National Archives. Organisations that fail to meet this requirement could find themselves in breach of the Public Records Act, and at risk of a possible fine.

We spoke to 150 senior executives responsible for information management and digital transformation in a wide range of public sector bodies. A third (30 per cent) are unaware the rule even exists, and a further 36 per cent know what is required of them but have yet to do anything about it. This is despite the fact that the law came into force in January

[i] Information Management in the UK Public Sector, Coleman Parkes for Iron Mountain, April 2014. The study questioned 150 senior information management, transformation, IT, procurement and record management executives in central government departments, executive agencies, non-departmental government bodies and arms-length bodies.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Iron Mountain .