The National Archives is the archive for the UK government and for England and Wales. However, the Government of Wales Act 2006, Part 6, sections 146-148 makes provision for Welsh public records, carrying forward provisions originally made in the Government of Wales Act 1998. Sections 146-148 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GOWA 2006) make provision for a category of records known as ‘Welsh public records’. Records falling within this category are listed in section 148 of GOWA 2006.
Section 146 of GOWA 2006 provides that Welsh public records are governed by the Public Records Act until such time that the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport makes an Order under section 147 imposing or conferring functions in respect of them (for example, a duty to preserve them) on either the Welsh Ministers, or a member of staff of the Welsh Government. In the event that such an order were made, this would, in effect, provide the authority to create a Welsh National Public Record Office.
The Senedd Cymru, or the Welsh Parliament, is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people, makes laws for Wales, and holds the Welsh government, or Llywodraeth Cymru, to account. The Welsh government is the executive branch of the Senedd consisting of the First Minister, Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General. The Welsh government is supported by civil servants throughout Wales who assist in policy development and implementation.
Welsh public records include the records of the Welsh government (Welsh Office from 1964 until 1999; of the National Assembly for Wales from May 1999 to June 2007; of the Welsh Assembly Government from June 2007 to May 2011) and a number of sponsored bodies affiliated to it. The records of the Senedd and the Senedd Commission are not Welsh public records under this legislation and the Senedd and Senedd Commission are responsible for their own records.
The records of the Senedd, Senedd Commission, Welsh Government and affiliated bodies are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Until an Order under section 147 has been laid, The National Archives will continue to carry out its statutory functions in regard to Welsh public records in accordance with the Public Records Acts 1958. A Concordat between the Welsh Government and The National Archives formalises this arrangement:
The Tithe Commutation Act, 1836 (6&7 Will.IV, c.71) allowed payment of tithes in kind to be substituted by money payments. In most cases the principal records of the commutation of tithes in a parish under the Tithe Act 1836 is the Tithe Apportionment, altered apportionment and the tithe maps.
The Tithe Act, 1936 (26 Geo. V and 1 Edw. VIII. C.43) abolished all tithe rent charges. Responsibility for tithe documents created under the tithe acts (1836, 1837, 1839, 1860, 1891) were placed under the charge of the Master of the Rolls, who has the authority to transfer them to an approved place of deposit. This responsibility is exercised by The National Archives: Historical Manuscripts Commission. The Master of the Rolls has issued Tithe (Copies of Instruments of apportionment) Rules 1960 (SI 1960/2440), as amended by the Tithe (Copies of Instruments of Apportionment) (Amendment) Rules 1963 (SI 1963/977)] concerning the care, custody, access to, and definition of tithe documents.
The tithe acts provided for the making of an original and two copies of every confirmed instrument of apportionment. The originals are now in The National Archives. The two copies were deposited with the registrar of the diocese and with the incumbents of and churchwardens of the parish. In many cases the copies and subsequent altered apportionments are now deposited in the relevant local record office.
Further information about the history of tithes is in our research guide on tithe records.
The Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978, passed by the General Synod of the Church of England, was a step to ensure the long-term care and preservation of and access to parish records. It was a response to the interest and use of parish records in historical research, recognition that church employees did not necessarily have the skills or appropriate storage conditions to care for parish records, and the development of archival services in the country.
In the Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1929, a diocese record office was defined as a church-owned building. However, the 1978 measure aimed to draw on the network of records offices that were subsequently established throughout the country and the Local Government (Records) Act 1962, which allowed local authority record offices to acquire and care for records of local significance.
The principal duties imposed Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978 were:
- one or more diocesan record office be designated to serve the diocese (S.7)
- all non-current registers and records which are over 100 year old must be deposited in the Diocesan Record Office and registers whose earliest entry are 150 years old (S.10)
- those records that are not deposited must be afforded care in regard the conditions they are kept in and should be subject to five yearly inspections by inspectors appointed by the bishop (S.11)
- register books or baptisms and burials to be available for research within reasonable working hours in the diocesan record offices (S.20). An amendment in the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1992 allowed for diocesan record office to produce surrogate copies rather than the originals
View the Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978, as amended to 2003.
Local Government (Records) Act 1962
The Local Government (Records) Act 1962 (LGRA 1962) confers limited discretionary powers for local authorities to provide certain archives services. Section 1(1) of this Act says that ‘a local authority may do all such things as appear to it necessary or expedient for enabling adequate use to be made of records under its control’.
It goes on to refer to allowing inspection and copying of records, preparing indexes and guides to them and publishing and exhibiting them. The Act refers solely to the service provision aspect of archive offices’ work, not to their stewardship obligations nor any wider responsibilities and functions. In addition the Act empowers them to acquire records of local significance over and above their own administrative records, care for them and make them available for study by the public.
This Act has been successively amended to cover all county councils, all London boroughs, metropolitan districts and unitary councils.
View the Local Government (Records) Act 1962, as amended to 2003
Some local authorities which are not covered by the 1962 Act hold collections of archives under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964. Library authorities are empowered to hold collections of archives as long as this does not become their dominant function.
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (s.224) requires local authorities to ‘make proper arrangements with respect to any documents that belong to or are in the custody of the council of any of their officers’. In 1999 the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (now the Department for Communities and Local Government) issued guidance on the interpretation of the term ‘proper arrangements’.
The guidance includes sections on the management of a local authority’s administrative records, whether kept on paper or in electronic form, and proper arrangements for those records which have enduring historical value and which should be kept by an established archive service.
Relevant sections of the Local Government Act 1972 (PDF, 0.05Mb)
See Guidance on ‘proper arrangements’ for archives
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (s.60) required all the new unitary authorities in Wales to submit schemes for their proposed delivery of archive services, to the Secretary of State. Following the reorganisation of local authorities in Wales the new principal councils should make and maintain schemes setting out ‘their arrangements for the proper care, preservation and management of their records’, including details of any shared arrangements. All schemes must be kept under review and modified if considered appropriate.
The scope of this act covers any documents, in whatever form and in whatever medium, which convey or are capable of conveying information, which belongs to the council or of which they have custody of as well as those that have been retained for reference and research purposes, or because of their likely historical interest.
View the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994.
Additional requirements with regard to access to information in records and archives, affecting local and regional authorities, have been imposed through the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations. These include a statutory right for the citizen of access to information, subject to certain exemptions and conditions.
There are a number of acts and statutory instruments that go some way towards safeguarding historical records, but in many cases the wording is open to interpretation. This section outlines the main acts, statutory instruments and Measures of the Church of England that have an impact on the care and custody of records.
The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts was appointed under Royal Warrant in 1869 to make enquiry as to the places where manuscripts and private papers of historical interest were located and to report on their contents. The terms of reference were extended in 1959 to include the commission’s current functions.
With the creation of The National Archives in April 2003, the warrant was amended to allow the Keeper of Public Records to become the sole Historical Manuscripts Commissioner. Read the warrant:
ELIZABETH THE SECOND, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories QUEEN, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, To all to whom these Presents shall come,
Greeting!
WHEREAS it was represented to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria that there were belonging to many Institutions and Private Families various Collections of Manuscripts and Papers of general Public Interest a knowledge of which would be of great utility in the illustration of History, Constitutional Law, Science and general Literature; that in some cases these Papers were liable to be lost or obliterated, and that many of the possessors of such Manuscripts would be willing to give access to them and permit their contents to be made public provided that nothing of a private character or relating to the Title of existing owners, should be divulged:
AND WHEREAS it appeared to Her Majesty that there would be considerable public advantage in it being generally known where such Manuscripts and Papers were deposited, and that the contents of those which tended to the elucidation of History, and the illustration of Constitutional Law, Science and Literature, should be published; Her Majesty did accordingly, by Royal Warrant bearing the date the second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, appoint Commissioners to make inquiry as to the places in which such Manuscripts and Papers were deposited, and for any of the purposes therein mentioned:
AND WHEREAS by Royal Warrants bearing date the eighteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven and the twenty-seventh day of March, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, new Commissions were issued for the purposes specified in the original Commission above referred to:
AND WHEREAS by Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual bearing date the fifth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine, We deemed it expedient that the terms of reference to Our said Commissioners should be revised and extended:
AND WHEREAS We have deemed it expedient that the responsibilities of the said Commission be exercised by a sole Historical Manuscripts Commissioner.
NOW KNOW YE that We do by these Presents will and ordain that Sarah Jacqueline Tyacke, for so long as she shall hold the Office of Keeper of Public Records, and any persons who shall succeed her in that Office, for so long as they shall hold it, shall act as sole Historical Manuscripts Commissioner, and accordingly We authorise and require Our said Commissioners hitherto appointed and still holding office to cease to exercise the powers and privileges conferred upon them as Chairman and Members of the said Commission.
AND We do further by these presents Will and Ordain that Our said Commissioner shall make enquiry as to the existence and location of manuscripts, including records or archives of all kinds, of value for the study of history, other than records which are for the time being public records by virtue of the Public Records Acts; with the consent of the owners or custodians inspect and report on them; with the consent of the owners or custodians reproduce and publish or assist the publication of such reports; record particulars of such manuscripts and records in a national register thereof; promote and assist the proper preservation and storage of such manuscripts and records; assist those wishing to use such manuscripts or records for study or research; consider and advise upon general questions relating to the location, preservation and use of such manuscripts and records; and promote the co-ordinated action of all professional and other bodies concerned with the, preservation and use of such manuscripts and records.
The Freedom of Information Act gives rights of access to a wide range of information. However, rights of access to environmental information are provided by a separate statutory regime, the Environmental Information Regulations.
Find out about requesting information under the regulations.
Data protection law changed from May 2018 with the passing of the Data Protection Act 2018 and taking effect of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Information and resources can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website. There is special provision in the new laws for the archiving of personal data in the public interest. Further advice and guidance is available for the archives sector.
Guide to archiving personal data
The National Archives, in conjunction with government archiving policy leads and the Archives and Records Association, has prepared a guide to assist those working with the provision and exemptions for archiving found in the new data protection law.
The guide has now been published in its final version following a period of public comment.
The guide to archiving personal data is also available in Welsh (PDF, 1.16MB).
Data protection toolkit for archive services
The National Archives has produced a Data Protection legislation toolkit to assist archivists dealing with data protection requests and issues arising from their collections.
You can sign up to access the Toolkit using enrolment key ‘Data Protection Toolkit’, and then login through TNA’s e-learning site.
The access provisions of the Freedom of Information Act came fully into force in January 2005. The Act replaced the access provisions for UK public records set out in the Public Records Act 1958-1967. The Act also governs access to information held by most public sector bodies. Scottish bodies are covered by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
A full list of bodies covered by Freedom of Information (FOI) is available on the Ministry of Justice website. The website also contains general guidance on implementing and using the Act.
Freedom of Information and records management
The Lord Chancellor has issued two Codes of Practice under the Act.
The section 45 Code sets out good practice in handling requests for information. It also includes a section on Freedom of Information and public sector contracts.
The section 46 Code is a technical document aimed at supporting management of public authority records and information under the Act. The Code places information management in the context of broad principles, providing an accessible framework which outlines how authorities should best manage their information to support appropriate public access under the Act. The Code also clarifies the basis on which the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives operates.
The Information Commissioner and the Chief Executive of The National Archives have signed a Memorandum of Understanding setting out how they will work together on promoting and monitoring the records management code:
The Memorandum is under review. An updated version will be available later this year in line with data protection reform.
Paragraph 19 of the Memorandum sets out that the Information Commissioner and the Chief Executive of The National Archives will share knowledge, expertise, best practice and intelligence in relation to matters of mutual interest. How this commitment will apply when the Information Commissioner issues a practice recommendation under the Freedom of Information Act is described within the consultation process agreement:
ICO TNA practice recommendation consultation process 2023 (PDF, 0.11 MB)
Guidance for records managers
The National Archives is working to promote compliance with the Code of Practice on the Management of Records in all public authorities. Our guidance for records managers includes:
- a set of guides to each aspect of the Code
- an evaluation workbook to help authorities in the wider public sector assess their records management against the Code
- a programme to assess levels of risk faced by government departments through failure to comply with the Code
Guidance for archive services and places of deposit
Freedom of Information has affected archive provision by both public records and private collections held in public institutions and places of deposit. The National Archives has produced guidance for archivists on how Freedom of Information has affected the management of these records and how to handle access requests:
Freedom of Information, Copyright and copying of records held in archives (PDF, 0.03 MB)
All our guidance on Freedom of Information can also be found in our guidance A-Z.
The Public Records Office Acts 1838, 1877 and 1898
The Public Record Office Act was passed in 1838 to ‘keep safely the public records’. It placed records of existing and ancient courts of law and their offices in a non-ministerial department under the keepership of the Master of the Rolls. The Public Record Office was organised in a number of branches with headquarters at Rolls House on the Rolls Estate in Chancery Lane, central London.
The Master of Rolls was empowered to regulate public access to records and to fix fees for their inspection, where appropriate. He was also required to appoint a Deputy Keeper as Chief Record Keeper.
At the time, the term ‘record’ referred only to legal documents. However, during the 1840s, papers and documents of government departments began to be accepted for preservation. This development was firmly supported by the Public Record Office and by the Treasury. To legalise matters an Order in Council was issued in 1852. A year earlier the first stone of the new purpose-built repository had been laid on the Rolls Estate and between 1854 and 1856 the various branches were moved into it. In 1862 they were joined by the records and staff of the State Paper Office, which had been absorbed by the Public Record Office in 1854, and further extensions were made to the repository between 1868 and 1900.
A limitation existed, however, as there was no formal requirement for government departments to transfer their papers and make them available for public access. Until the Public Record Office Acts of 1877 and 1898, there was also no provision for the destruction of material not selected for preservation. The 1877 Act allowed the Master of the Rolls to make rules to provide for the destruction of schedules of records which were not of sufficient public value to justify their preservation, so long as Parliament agreed to the schedules. No records older than 1715 were to be disposed of through these rules, a date which was then altered by the 1898 Act to no records earlier than 1660. Concern over this lack of a systematic procedure for government records led to an investigation by a Royal Commission on Public Records (1910-1919), but little came of its findings. It was not until the appointment of a committee in 1952 to review the existing arrangements that reform began.
The Grigg Committee and the Public Records Act 1958
The committee of 1952 was formed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Master of the Rolls. The chairman of this committee on departmental records was Sir James Grigg, a former Permanent Under Secretary of the War Office. The committee’s principal conclusions in its report of 1954 (Cmd 9163) were:
- responsibility for the selection and transfer to the PRO of records worthy of permanent preservation should rest with departments
- the PRO should be responsible for guidance, coordination and supervision of these processes
- responsibility for the PRO should be transferred from the Master of the Rolls to a minister
- most records should pass through a system of first and second reviews, determining which should be preserved until second review for the department’s own purposes and subsequently which should be preserved permanently on grounds of departmental need and historical significance
- records should be transferred to the PRO by the time they were 30 years old and should be opened to general public inspection when they were 50 years old, unless special considerations dictated different periods
- each department should appoint a departmental record officer to be responsible for its records from the time they were created or first reviewed until their destruction or transfer to the PRO, reporting to the director of establishments or an officer of similar status
- a records administration officer should be appointed in the PRO, supported by a number of inspecting officers, to carry out the PRO’s responsibilities
- cinematograph films, photographs and sound recordings should be treated as public records
The government announced its acceptance of the main recommendations in July 1955 and the first records administration officer (RAO) was appointed in December of that year. The first inspecting officers (IOs) were appointed in 1956 and the departmental record officers (DROs) were introduced to work with existing records and to implement new reviewing procedures.
Legislation was required to implement many of the Grigg Committee’s recommendations and the Public Records Act 1958 was the result. It came into force on 1 January 1959 to provide the statutory framework for the new system, and for the new relationship between the PRO and departments. It transferred responsibility for public records and the PRO to the Lord Chancellor, and placed the day to day management of the PRO in the hands of a Keeper of Public Records. For the first time a statutory, general public right of access was given after 50 years – with arrangements for exceptions – to public records transferred to the PRO or to a place of deposit elsewhere appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
The Public Records Act 1967 and the 30-year access rule
In 1967 it was decided to reduce the 50 year closure period to 30 years. This allowed records relating to the First World War and those created before 1923 to be available for public inspection. An amending Public Records Act took effect on 1 January 1968.
The introduction of the 30 year access rule focused attention on the need to identify those papers or records that could be classed as sensitive. The Lord Chancellor’s powers to give those records additional protection, at the request of their originating departments, became more significant.
With the records of the First World War now open, the records of the Second World War and the immediate post war period (other than service personnel records) were made available for public inspection at the beginning of 1972. Second World War service records remained in administrative use to manage pensions and other matters, and in general did not start to be transferred to The National Archives until 2022.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000
In January 2005, the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act replaced those parts of the Public Records Act that related to access to records.
The old regime, under which records were closed for 30 years unless the Lord Chancellor set a longer or a shorter period, has effectively been replaced by the Freedom of Information access regime.
The Public Records Act 1958 and the 20-year rule
The FOI Act did not affect the requirement to transfer public records to The National Archives or a place of deposit by the time they are 30 years old, unless the Lord Chancellor approves their retention in the department for a further period.
In October 2007 the Prime Minister announced an independent review of this deadline, and also of the provision in the FOI Act that some exemptions should fall away after 30 years. The report of the 30 Year Rule Review was published in January 2009 and recommended reduction. The government decided that both the FOI and the Public Records Acts should be amended to reduce the period to 20 years but with some exceptions, one of them being extension of the duration of the exemption in the FOI Act for information relating to communications with the Royal Family and Royal Household. The changes were made through the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
In 2013 the government began the work of a transition to releasing records when they are 20 years old, instead of 30 – read more about the 20-year rule.