The following list gives the file structure for Advisory Council files held by the secretary.
| Administration | Adm | Administration of the council, including finance, travel claims, catering arrangements for meetings |
| Appointments | Appt | Recruitment of new members of the council, including application forms, submissions to the Lord Chancellor, instruments of appointment |
| Constitution and conduct | Con | Code of conduct for members of the council; position and responsibilities of the council as a non departmental public body |
| Quinquennial review | Con/Quin | Quinquennial reviews of the council |
| General correspondence | Gen | Letters from members of the public, government departments and others |
| Membership | Mem | Responsibilities of the council under the Guidance of the Commissioner for Public Appointments; publication of details about the council’s membership |
| Minutes and memoranda | Min | Agendas, signed minutes of meetings and papers submitted to meetings |
| Precedents | Prec | Copies of papers giving decisions of the council which set a precedent or determine a policy for the future |
| Publicity | Pub | Summaries of meetings issued for public information and other methods of publicising the role of the council. Drafting of the annual report together with copies of the published texts |
| Register of members’ interests | Int | Members’ statements and the publicly available register |
| Archives | Sub/Arc | Local, business and specialist archives |
| FoI policy | Sub/FoI | Policy on the operation of the FoI Act |
| GCHQ | Sub/GCHQ | Review of GCHQ selection criteria |
| Legislation | Sub/Leg | Archival and other legislation |
| Private papers | Sub/Priv | Private and family papers |
| Retentions and extended closures | Sub/Ret | Negotiations with departments on retentions and extended closures |