Asked by: Lord Beith (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to encourage government departments to meet their targets and legal obligations relating to the release of records to the National Archives.
Answered by Simon Hughes
Departments must comply with the provisions of the Public Records Act 1958 and the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on Records Management, issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Government departments are currently in transition from the 30-year rule for transferring records to The National Archives to a 20-year rule, over a ten year period. The National Archives works closely with departments to help them meet their targets for transferring records through published statistics and capability assessments.
On 6 November a report by the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Alex Allan, was published. It contains a number of recommendations relating to how Government should manage its records. We have accepted these recommendations in full. The Ministry of Justice will continue to support The National Archives’ work with departments to facilitate Information Management Assessments and to encourage continued diligence in taking these recommendations forward.
Asked by: Lord Beith (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what targets have been set for the release of his Department's material to the National Archives; what progress has been made in meeting those targets; and how many staff in his Department are engaged in reviewing records for that purpose.
Answered by Simon Hughes
Each spring and autumn the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provides a submission to The National Archives (TNA) which sets out its progress for transferring records as part of the 10 year transition from the 30 to 20 year rule. In MoJ’s most recent submission to TNA in spring 2014, the department reported that it is on track to transfer records due in 2014. MoJ’s submission forms part of TNA’s Record Transfer Report which is available at the following link:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/record-transfer-report.htm
MoJ currently has 10 members of staff that undertake record review.
Asked by: Lord Beith (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that departments meet targets for clearing public records for transfer to the National Archives.
Answered by Simon Hughes
Government departments are currently in transition from the 30 year rule for transferring records to The National Archives to a 20 year rule, over a ten year period. The National Archives works closely with departments to help them meet their targets for transferring records through published statistics and capability assessments.
In March 2014 the Prime Minister commissioned his independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Alex Allan, to establish the position across government on the annual release of papers and the ability and readiness of departments to meet the requirements of moving to the 20-year rule. The Government will consider Sir Alex’s recommendations in due course.