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Freedom of information request

Permanent preservation of listed building records

Freedom of information request reference
CAS-336835
Request resolved

Request

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information concerning the appraisal and selection of listed building designation records for permanent preservation.

I am researching the survival of designation records relating to listed buildings, including industrial heritage assets such as bottle ovens, pottery kilns, glass cones and related structures.


Please could you confirm:

  1. Whether records relating to listed building designation casework, listing assessment files, listing inspection files, or associated supporting documentation created by the Department of the Environment, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, English Heritage or Historic England have ever been selected for permanent preservation under the Public Records Act.
  2. If such records have not generally been selected for permanent preservation, what appraisal decisions, selection criteria or policies informed that decision.
  3. Whether The National Archives has ever reviewed, approved, advised upon or been consulted regarding the destruction or disposal of listed building designation files.
  4. Whether any Operational Selection Policies, appraisal reports, guidance documents or other records exist specifically addressing designation files relating to the protection of the historic built environment.
  5. Whether The National Archives holds any estimate, audit, appraisal report or assessment concerning the survival rate of designation files created between 1970 and 2004.
  6. Whether any classes of designation file were identified as possessing enduring historical value but nevertheless remained with the creating department rather than being transferred to The National Archives.

I am seeking information concerning policy, appraisal and archival practice rather than individual property records.

Outcome

Some information provided.

Response

Your request and our response

I can confirm that The National Archives holds some information relevant to your request and we are pleased to be able to provide this information to you. Some of the requested information contains staff names and these have been redacted under section 40(2) of the FOI Act. For further information about the application of this exemption, please see the explanatory annex at the end of this response.

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information concerning the appraisal and selection of listed building designation records for permanent preservation.

I am researching the survival of designation records relating to listed buildings, including industrial heritage assets such as bottle ovens, pottery kilns, glass cones and related structures.

Please could you confirm:

  1. Whether records relating to listed building designation casework, listing assessment files, listing inspection files, or associated supporting documentation created by the Department of the Environment, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, English Heritage or Historic England have ever been selected for permanent preservation under the Public Records Act.

We can confirm that some records relating to listed building designation casework, listing assessment files, listing inspection files, or associated supporting documentation created by the Department of the Environment, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, English Heritage or Historic England have been selected for permanent preservation under the Public Records Act.

Please see the following links to our online catalogue for relevant record series (this includes records held at The National Archives as well as records that are not yet held):

As a general point worth noting, we do hold many records on the subject of listed buildings. In particular, large collections of registered files can be found in both the PF 297 and HLG 126 series. Both series relate specifically to historic buildings.

We also hold PRO files relating to accessioning for the HLG 126 series which can be found through this link. There does not, however, appear to be corresponding files for PF 297.

Please see the attached spreadsheet entitled ‘Historic England schedule’ for details of further records created by the Department of the Environment, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, English Heritage or Historic England that have been selected for permanent preservation under the Public Records Act.

  1. If such records have not generally been selected for permanent preservation, what appraisal decisions, selection criteria or policies informed that decision.

Please email us if you would like to request links to relevant published guidance.

A copy of Historic England’s Archive Collections Development Policy is available as a redacted PDF upon request. Names of staff have been redacted from this document under section 40(2) of the FOI Act. Please email us to request this PDF.

  1. Whether The National Archives has ever reviewed, approved, advised upon or been consulted regarding the destruction or disposal of listed building designation files.

The National Archives does not hold relevant information.

  1. Whether any Operational Selection Policies, appraisal reports, guidance documents or other records exist specifically addressing designation files relating to the protection of the historic built environment.

Please see the response to part 2 of your request.

  1. Whether The National Archives holds any estimate, audit, appraisal report or assessment concerning the survival rate of designation files created between 1970 and 2004.

The National Archives does not hold relevant information.

  1. Whether any classes of designation file were identified as possessing enduring historical value but nevertheless remained with the creating department rather than being transferred to The National Archives.

I am seeking information concerning policy, appraisal and archival practice rather than individual property records.

Historic England has a substantial volume of review backlog retention (held under an agreed Retention Instrument). This refers to records that are over 20-years old but have not completed the process of being reviewed for permanent preservation, or if they have been selected but have not completed the transfer process. There is some detail in the retention application that Historic England made to retain their review backlog to suggest it includes records that might be relevant to the request. For example, records of their Listing Committee which have been selected and should be transferred in 2026.

Please see the attached spreadsheet entitled ‘Historic England schedule’ for details of records identified as possessing enduring historical value that have remained with the originating department rather than being transferred to The National Archives.

Annexe

Exemptions engaged

Section 40(2): Personal Information where the applicant is not the data subject

Section 40 exempts personal information about a ‘third party’ (someone other than the requester), if revealing it would breach the terms of Data Protection Legislation. Data Protection Legislation prevents personal information from release if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason why it was collected, or where the subject had officially served notice that releasing it would cause them damage or distress. Personal information must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner as set out by Art. 5 of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

In this case the exemption applies because the requested material contains information which would identify members of staff.

Publishing the names and contact details of members of staff is considered an unfair use of personal data. These members of staff would have no expectation that information about their positions would be made available in the public domain; to do so would be unfair and contravene the first data protection principle of the Data Protection Act.

Further guidance about the publication of staff names can be found on the ICO's website.

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