About the Advisory Council

Role

The Advisory Council has several roles.

• advises the Secretary of State on issues relating to public records that are over 20 years old (historical public records), including public access to them, at the point of transfer to The National Archives
• advising the Secretary of State on requests from Government departments to retain historical public records under the Public Records Act
• acting for the Secretary of State in deciding on requests from departments for historical public records to remain closed under certain Freedom of Information Act exemptions and challenges departments to provide evidence to justify such requests
• advising the Chief Executive and Keeper of The National Archives on matters relating to their duties as Historical Manuscripts Commissioner under the Royal Warrant through the Council’s sub-committee, the Forum on Historical Manuscripts and Academic Research

It also supports government departments and The National Archives by providing independent advice on issues relating to records management and archives.

Principles

Openness and objectivity guide the Advisory Council’s work. Its guiding principle is to support information being made public.

That principle will only be set aside when there are clear grounds to do so, based on public or national interest, or sensitivity about personal data. The Advisory Council regularly challenges government departments to provide evidence to justify requests to retain or close documents.

On appointment, Advisory Council members agree to observe the seven principles of public life – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

Reports

The Council reports to the Secretary of State every year in an annual report by the Master of the Rolls, which is published with the Annual Report of The National Archives.

Reports from before 2024 can be found on the UK Government Web Archive.

Meeting summaries

The Advisory Council meets quarterly. Minutes for these minutes are found on this page.

Access to information considered at meetings

In keeping with the Information Commissioner’s Publication Scheme, the Council publishes minutes if its quarterly meetings.

The Advisory Council on National Records and Archives recognises the public interest in access to information about its work, and the advice it gives to the Secretary of State. It also recognises, however, the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of some of its information and of the advice that it gives.

Due to this, the Council is not obliged to publish information, which would be exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations or the Data Protection Act. Information that is exempt and cannot be published in full will be published in summary form where possible.

Summaries from previous meetings can be found in the UK Government Web Archive.