31 July 2000
Meeting summaries
The nineteenth meeting of the United Kingdom Inter-Departmental Archives Committee (IDAC) took place at Historical Manuscripts Commission on 31 July 2000, when the following topics were considered:
Access to Archives (A2A)
The project staff were in post and work had begun on processing catalogues. Four bids had been submitted to the HLF for technical review.
re:source manifesto
The re:source manifesto had been published in July. It announced the strategic vision of the organization and the work programme for the current year. In 2001-2002, a three-year programme would be adopted. Justin Frost (PRO) would be joining re:source as archives adviser. He would be reporting to Stuart Davies, Director of Strategy and Planning.
Standard for access
The Standard for Access report had been adopted by the British Standards Institution (BSI) as a basis for consultation. It would be retitled the Standard for Archival Access Services. The BSI Committee would be chaired by Chris Pickford (Director, Church of England Records Centre). The HMC, Society of Archivists and PRO would contribute to the costs. The standard could potentially be taken forward as an international standard but the priority would be to achieve domestic adoption within two years. Remote as well as on-site services should be covered. The BSI Committee would liaise with IDAC.
Freedom of Information (FoI)
The Lord Chancellor's draft Code of Practice on the Management of Records under FoI had been published. It would apply to all public authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Northern Ireland Executive Committee had agreed that the FoI Bill before Parliament should be extended to cover public bodies in Northern Ireland. There was no equivalent legislation in Scotland at present but many of the government records held in Scotland came under the provisions of UK legislation.
Social Inclusion
The DCMS paper Centres for Social Change was one of a series on social inclusion for the various sectors. It covered museums as well as archives. It was a consultation document intended to identify best practice and set the agenda for a co-ordinated approach. A revised version would be produced by the end of December. There was a corresponding initiative in Northern Ireland.
Government Policy on Archives
A working group comprising PRO, DCMS, re:source and HMC was commissioned to draft a medium term action plan. The Scottish and Northern Ireland Executives, the DETR and DfEE would be corresponding members. The first task would be to agree a consultation text to be published on the PRO web site and the NRA mailbase. The consultation period would last twelve weeks and involve all the major stakeholders. The Action Plan would concentrate on the quality and range of services available to the public in line with the government agenda. Partnerships and collaboration were expected to play a significant part in implementation. The principles were universally applicable and could for example be adapted to the Scottish situation.
Representation of UK Archival Interests on EU and International Bodies
Specific areas for action included influencing EU on funding streams for this sector and adopting good practice from overseas. re:source, the national archive bodies and the ICA working together on international issues should form a formidable team.
Information Age Government: e-Business Strategy
Every government department was required to produce an e-business strategy by 31 October 2000. It had become clear that collaboration across departments was essential. The PRO had published its guidance on Electronic Records Management.
Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure had produced a corporate strategy with emphasis on cross-sectoral collaboration and partnerships. They were taking social need and targeting very seriously.
Scotland
The Scottish Executive had produced a draft policy on culture. The existence of archives was acknowledged. The information debate was imminent. It had been recognized that FoI would require archival legislation, but there was no timetable yet.
Wales
A memorandum of understanding between the National Assembly for Wales (NAW) and the PRO on Welsh public records had been agreed and would be published. Meanwhile NAW was developing its records management policy and procedures. The NAW would be undertaking a consultation exercise on future advisory structures for museums, libraries and archives in Wales.
England: Regional Archive Councils (RACs)
The RACs were developing their strategies. They should be ready by Spring 2001. They were moving at varying speeds and adopting various approaches but the NCA was welding the components together. There would be a template and it would be possible to read across but each plan would have its own flavour. IDAC would use the NCA as a bridge to the regions.
