The background and legislation around our role in the archive sector.
Archives at the Heart of Society In 2024, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned The National Archives to create the Government's new strategic vision for archives.
In 2025, we expanded our annual archive sector survey to the whole of the UK, in partnership with National Records Scotland, the Scottish Council on Archives, Welsh Government, Archives and Records Council Wales and Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Introduction Archives serve as the custodians of our collective memory, preserving records of the past for the benefit of present and future generations.
What has the sector achieved? As we begin the consultation to create the Government's new strategic vision for archives, it is appropriate to reflect on three of the original themes of Archives Unlocked - digital capacity, resilience and impact - and the sector's achievements in these areas.
Towards a new vision The new Government has commissioned The National Archives to create a new strategic vision for archives.
In 2011, The National Archives took on additional leadership responsibilities for archives in England.
In the six years since we launched the Government vision, Archives Unlocked, The National Archives and the archives sector have worked together to show how archives deliver the three ambitions of Trust, Openness and Enrichment.
In 2019, The National Archives published its first three-year digital capacity building strategy, Plugged In, Powered Up (PIPU), for the archive sector.
Our first digital capacity building strategy, Plugged In, Powered Up set out an ambitious plan of programmes, training and resources to support the archives sector meet its digital ambitions.
We work with Arts Council England on several initiatives and have agreed our approach to working together in a Memorandum of Understanding.
The history of the commission Appointed by Royal Warrant in 1869, The Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC) was first formed to document the location of records and papers in private hands, as opposed to those held at the Public Record Office.
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