Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase the accessibility of the national archives.

The National Archives is committed to increasing the accessibility of the records in its care.

This includes, over the next four years, expanding its collection through the absorption of the Parliamentary Archives and c.10 million Ministry of Defence service personnel records, increasing its visitor numbers by 50 per cent, doubling the number of participants in its learning programmes, and investing in the skills, capability and infrastructure needed to support its mission over the long term.

To increase accessibility to its collection, The National Archives has also been creating digital images of its records since the mid-1990s. The vast majority of these digital images, approximately 138 million, have been created in partnership with commercial companies through its licensing programme.

The National Archives also has a significant online engagement programme, with its content being available both nationally and internationally online.