Emergency planning for public spaces

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide recorded information you hold in relation to security/emergency planning for collections and public-facing spaces. I am not seeking operational details (e.g., locations of CCTV, patrol patterns, safe-storage sites, evacuation routes, or supplier technical specifications).

Please disclose, for the period 1 April 2023 to present:

1. The titles, reference numbers, owners, and last review dates of current policies/plans relevant to protective security, emergency response, collections salvage, business continuity, and major-incident communications.
2. The number of staff who completed incident-response or collections-salvage training per financial year (aggregate counts only).
3. The dates and types of any exercises (table-top or live) conducted with the Local Resilience Forum or blue-light partners (headings/one-line descriptions; no sensitive injects).
4. The total annual spend on protective-security (broad ranges acceptable) for FY 2023/24 and 2024/25 to date.
5. A list of external guidance/frameworks cited in the above policies (titles only).

If any material is exempt (likely s24, s31 or s38), please apply redaction rather than withhold in full wherever possible; provide the public-interest test summary for qualified exemptions; and consider your Section 16 duty to advise and assist by suggesting narrower wording. I’m happy to accept redacted PDFs or a schedule of documents.

Outcome

Information provided.

Response

I can confirm that The National Archives holds information relevant to your request.

1. The titles, reference numbers, owners, and last review dates of current policies/plans relevant to protective security, emergency response, collections salvage, business continuity, and major-incident communications.

Title: The National Archives Security Policy
Owner: Corporate Security Advisor
Last Review Date: September 2025

Title: The National Archives Business Continuity Management System BCMS Manual
Owner: Operations Director
Last Review Date: February 2025

Title: Major Incident Management Plan
Owner: Chief Operating Officer
Last Review Date: April 2024

Title: The National Archives Collections Emergency Plan
Owner: Chief Operating Officer
Last Review Date: October 2025

2. The number of staff who completed incident-response or collections-salvage training per financial year (aggregate counts only).

In 2024/2025, 29 staff completed incident response training.

In 2024/25, 18 staff undertook a joint salvage exercise in association with the London Fire Brigade.

3. The dates and types of any exercises (table-top or live) conducted with the Local Resilience Forum or blue-light partners (headings/one-line descriptions; no sensitive injects).

London Fire Brigade Salvage Exercise
Live exercise
4th November 2024

4. The total annual spend on protective-security (broad ranges acceptable) for FY 2023/24 and 2024/25 to date.

Financial year 2023/24: £ 2,191,464

Financial year 2024/25: £ 2,312,919

These figures are inclusive of FM and Security services as during this period Security was provided through our FM service partner.

5. A list of external guidance/frameworks cited in the above policies (titles only).

UK Gov Security Policy Framework

BS EN ISO 22301: 2019 Business Continuity Management