Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank

The Government’s official history series is intended to provide authoritative histories in their own right.

Two volumes of Criminal Justice history were published earlier this year. The next publication is due out in autumn 2019.

The Whitehall History Publishing, comprised of several historical branches of government departments and led by the Cabinet Office, produces material on historical matters and themes to meet individual departmental requirements. The next publication is due out in autumn 2019.

The National Archives monitors departments’ compliance with the Public Records Act 1958 and progress towards transition to the 20 year rule. The Chief Executive and Keeper updates the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport annually on the 20 year rule transition and engages with the Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretaries where necessary.

John Manzoni wrote to all other Permanent Secretaries in January 2019 to brief them about digital records management.

Each government department is responsible for managing its own records up to the point when such records are transferred to the National Archives. This complies with the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the management of records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Cabinet Secretary has commissioned two recent reviews of record management practices. The first covered the arrangements for the annual release of departmental papers to the National Archives and was published in November 2014. The second, which was published earlier this month, focuses on the transition from paper-based to electronic record keeping; HM Government has accepted all the recommendations of the review and will begin to implement the actions he recommends through the course of 2016.

The Grant in Aid relief to English Heritage Trust (EHT) runs for 7 years from 2015/16, with the final instalment due in 2021/22. EHT has spent £50 million, or 63%, of the £80 million New Model grant up to 31 March 2019, the most recent financial year for which audited accounts are available.

At Kenwood, EHT has spent, out of the total £80 million available, £1.1 million on conservation work and £1.2 million on catering improvements and the conversion of the unused stable block to residential accommodation.

The Department maintains its archive records at Iron Mountain, whilst transferring those considered historically important to The National Archives in perpetuity.

Defra and its predecessor departments send selected records to The National Archives for permanent preservation. Files identified by Defra as public records but not yet available at The National Archives (in the process of preparation and transfer) are located with Defra’s Records Appraisal Team at Lion House, Alnwick, Northumberland NE66 2PF.

The High Speed 2 Phase One hybrid Bill includes a link to High Speed 1. It has been decided not to take forward this rail link. However, a study has been commissioned into better connectivity to the Continent which is due to report later this year. Whilst there are currently no plans to provide a rail link between Euston and St Pancras, we are looking at how connectivity between the two stations can be improved.

​I am pleased to report that the series Documents on British Policy Overseas (DBPO), now edited by Patrick Salmon and Richard Smith, is flourishing. DBPO is the documentary history of post-1945 British foreign policy published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the series Whitehall Histories. The last two publications were: Series III, Volume X: The Polish Crisis and Relations with Eastern Europe, 1979-1982 (2017) and Series III, Volume XI: The Unwinding of Apartheid: UK-South Africa Relations, 1986-1990 (2019). The next publication, Series III, Volume XII: Britain and the Revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989 is due out in autumn 2019.