How we spend public money

Where our money goes

The National Archives is the UK government’s official archive. We are guardians of some of the most iconic national documents dating back over 1,000 years.

We give detailed guidance to government departments and the public sector on information management and advise others about the care of historical archives. Our role is to collect and secure the future of the record, both digital and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible.

Find out how we spend our money, where we receive funding, what income we generate, and how this compares with last year’s spending and income with the diagrams and data below. This information is updated on a yearly basis.

Diagram showing our funding, spending and income in 2019-20 (PDF, 0.46 MB)

Diagram showing our funding, spending and income in 2018-19 (PDF, 0.08 MB)

Diagram showing our funding, spending and income in 2017-18 (PDF, 0.09 MB)

Diagram showing our funding, spending and income in 2016-17 (PDF, 0.19 MB)

Diagram showing our funding, spending and income in 2015-16 (PDF, 0.42 MB)

Items of spend over £10,000

Details of supplier payments for individual invoices exceeding £10,000 are shown here. These details are updated monthly. See the document below for an explanation of monthly spend.

Explanation of monthly spend (Word, 0.02 MB)

Government Procurement Card spend – transactions over £500

The National Archives is publishing all Government Procurement Card (GPC) spend for all staff that hold GPCs.

The data published includes transactions for goods and services costing over £500. This data will be published on a monthly basis.

Senior civil service salaries

The bottom of the band for grade SCS1 is £71,000 and The National Archives has one members of staff earning more than this figure. This does not include directors.

Please open the documents below to view the salaries, pension entitlements and any taxable benefits in kind of the Chief Executive, Directors and Non-Executive Directors. This information (which is updated on an annual basis), is also available on data.gov.uk.

Directors’ expenses

These documents show all expenses claimed by our directors. All travel was in economy class. This information is updated on a quarterly basis.

The summary for each director includes transport, hotel and subsistence costs.

Public Contracts Regulations 2015 – Payment performance

Under r113 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, statutory guidance is provided for contracting authorities and suppliers on paying undisputed invoices in 30 days down the supply chain. The tables below provide information on the percentage of invoices paid by The National Archives within 30 days.  This information is updated on a quarterly basis.

April 2021–March 2022 (CSV, 0.01 MB)

April 2020-March 2021 (CSV, 0.01 MB)

April 2019-March 2020 (CSV, 0.01 MB)

April 2018-March 2019 (CSV, 0.01 MB)

April 2017-March 2018 (CSV, 0.02 KB)

April 2016-March 2017 (CSV, 7 KB)

April 2015-March 2016 (CSV, 1 KB)