Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government has taken to implement the recommendation of the Macur Review on ensuring that government departments possess an accurate database of the documents and materials held by them.

Departments are required to maintain records in compliance with the Public Records Act 1958, and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and have record keeping systems in place. The National Archives monitors compliance and regularly conducts and publishes Information Management Assessments of departments.

The Government accepted Sir Alex Allan's recommendations, published on 17 December 2015, that more needs to be done to ensure that departments are capturing and maintaining accurate records. The Cabinet Office is working with departments and The National Archives to deliver this.