Reclosure Policy

This page concerns the Reclosure of previously ‘open’ historic records held by The National Archives. For information on the Takedown of information from The National Archives’ website or the UK Government Web Archive, please see our Takedown policy.

What is reclosure?

Reclosure is an action The National Archives takes when sensitive information is found within ‘open’ historic records, requiring it to be withdrawn from public access in line with information rights legislation.

Whilst there is no such thing under the FOI Act as a ‘closed’ record (and there is only such a thing as an ‘open’ record when there is categorically no FOI-exempt information within), the terms ‘open’ and ‘closed’ are useful administrative shorthand terms used by TNA to refer to records which are either “orderable” by members of the public (i.e. ‘open’) or withheld under the FOI Act (i.e. ‘closed’).

This policy describes the circumstances in which reclosure may occur.

Legal context

The National Archives’ collection contains over 15 million historical government and public records dating back 1000 years. The legal frameworks allowing access to historical records have changed over time and records transferred to The National Archives in the past were not subject to the same considerations as they are now. This means that, in a collection of this size, there may be instances where information that was released under an earlier access regime would not be released under today’s access regime. For example, the Data Protection Act 2018 safeguards living individuals’ personal data (such as their financial details or home address), which may not have been afforded the same protection previously.

 

A central black oval labelled ‘Reclosure’ with three arrows pointing towards it. Each arrow comes from a separate box showing its legal basis:– Top left box: ‘Public Records Act 1958, s.2(4) & s.5’. – Top right box: ‘Freedom of Information Act 2000, s.1 & s.2’. – Bottom box: ‘Data Protection Act 2018 & UK General Data Protection Regulation’. The diagram shows that reclosure is informed by these three pieces of legislation.

Legislation affecting The National Archive’s Reclosure Policy.

 

Even when current information rights legislation seems to provide no impediment to access, other aspects of lawfulness must be considered. The right to respect for private and family life in the Human Rights Act 1998 and other statutes protecting the confidentiality of personal information must be respected. For example, the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 protects the anonymity of victims of certain offences during their lifetime.

The Public Records Act 1958 requires that The National Archives provides access to its collection in accordance with the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The FOI Act gives a general right of access to information held by public authorities, and also sets out the circumstances in which some information is considered ‘exempt’, which means it cannot be released.

Having a process that helps The National Archives to determine whether certain information found in accessible historical records should, or should not, remain accessible in the current legislative context, is a vital tool that supports The National Archives in complying with the law. This process is known as ‘reclosure’.

The National Archives’ reclosure policy does not affect the statutory rights of individuals to request access to withheld information by making a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000. More information on how to submit a freedom of information request can be found on our website.

Guiding principles

The National Archives will always seek to provide as much access to as much information to as many people as possible, within the constraints of the law. In exercising the reclosure policy, and determining whether information needs to be reclosed from a record that is currently accessible, The National Archives may consider the following:

  • The nature of the information and its context
  • The age of the information
  • Whether the information is already accessible elsewhere, how long it has been publicly available, and the context of the disclosure
  • Under what circumstances and by whom the information was made available in the public domain
  • Whether there is a public interest in withholding the information from public access
  • The consequences of disclosure
  • The current information rights landscape

There is no hard and fast rule: the intersection of relevant legislation, policy and case law is complex and evolving. The National Archives must continue to protect public confidence that an individual’s right to privacy will be protected, whilst also ensuring that FOI access rights will be upheld in line with guidelines from the regulator – the Information Commissioner’s Office – and will not be exercised to the detriment of the public.

In considering the disclosure of personal data, The National Archives must consider whether processing this information would breach any of the data protection principles. For The National Archives it is the first principle (a) that is the most crucial in determining whether personal data can be disclosed:

Personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject

Accordingly, even when there might be a legitimate public interest in the information being made available, disclosing it must still be fair to the data subjects. Any decision to disclose personal data must therefore be balanced against the rights of data subjects, taking into consideration any consequences disclosure may have for individuals. This is especially important as disclosure under the FOI Act means disclosure to the world at large (not just to the individual who requested the information) and therefore must be justifiable under data protection legislation.

How the reclosure process works

A horizontal flowchart showing the stages of a reclosure request.Request for reclosure received – can come from a member of the public, a government department, a National Archives staff member, or the Takedown Panel. Request triaged – the requester is asked about the nature of the request, what information it relates to, and whether similar information is already public. Record may be placed as ‘access under review’ – time is allowed for sensitivities to be assessed. Recommendation made to the Reclosure Panel – guiding principles, the closure period, and whether redaction is possible are considered. Requester and access status updated – the requester is informed of the Panel’s decision, and the Discovery catalogue is updated.

A visualisation of the reclosure process

 

1. A request for reclosure is received

The assessment of information within ‘open’ records which may need to be closed is triggered when The National Archives receives a request for reclosure from one, or more, of the following:

  • a member of the public
  • a government department
  • a member of staff at The National Archives, or
  • the Takedown Panel

Reclosure requests are received from one or more of these groups when they identify information within an ‘open’ record which they believe may need to be withheld to bring it in line with the rules around protecting personal data and/or other considerations under FOI legislation. Members of the public may come across information which they believe should not be in the public domain in our reading rooms, while government departments may identify sensitive information in their transferred records during a routine re-review.

The National Archives’ staff may come across sensitive information in ‘open’ records during the course of their work, for example as part of a research project, preparing for exhibitions, or completing a record copying request. Staff do not proactively search for information to reclose from ‘open’ records. However, if it comes to the attention of staff that information in an ‘open’ record may be considered exempt under information rights legislation, that information will require assessment and may be referred to the Reclosure Panel.

When a reclosure request is received, the Reclosure Team will respond to the requester to ask questions about the nature of their request, what information it relates to, and whether related information may already be available in the public domain. The Reclosure Team is part of The National Archives’ Freedom of Information Centre and provides secretariat and administrative support to the Reclosure Panel.

2. Access to the record in question may be temporarily suspended

After this initial triage, access to the record in question may be temporarily suspended whilst an assessment of the information takes place. During this time the temporary access restriction will be indicated on Discovery (our online catalogue) as ‘Access Under Review’, until one of the following outcomes is reached by the Reclosure Panel:

  • If reclosure is agreed, the access status will be amended in line with other ‘closed’ records.
  • If reclosure is not agreed, the access status will revert to ‘open’.

Access to records held at The National Archives which were received from Public Inquiries and other short-term bodies, such as Independent Inquiries, may not always be temporarily restricted whilst a decision is taken on reclosure. This is due to the high-profile nature and content of Inquiry records which have been selected by the Inquiry Chair to be made available at The National Archives as part of the transparent record of the Inquiry.

Records are placed ‘Access Under Review’ to temporarily withdraw them from public access whilst potential sensitivities can be assessed. Sensitive material may include personal information of individuals, for example names, private home addresses and medical information, or potentially harmful information such as post-mortem reports, crime scene photographs, or graphic details within police statements.

Following an assessment of the ‘Access Under Review’ record, a report will be presented to the Reclosure Panel. Once the Panel confirms that they are content with the recommended outcome, Discovery will be updated accordingly and the ‘Access Under Review’ status removed.

The FOI Act ensures that even where records are marked ‘Access Under Review’ on Discovery, members of the public can still make a request to access that information. The option is available on the catalogue to submit an FOI request for access to the record, or requests for access to records marked ‘Access Under Review’ can also be made via the Freedom of Information webform.

3. The Reclosure Panel considers the request

The Reclosure Panel is composed of members of staff with expertise in FOI and Data Protection legislation, along with records and catalogue specialists from across The National Archives. The Reclosure Panel is chaired by the Deputy Chief Executive for The National Archives. Membership of the Reclosure Panel will be reviewed annually to ensure the Panel is composed of individuals with the appropriate level of expertise.

Any records which are reclosed will have been carefully assessed by the Reclosure Panel, and decisions will be made in line with Information Rights legislation, including the FOI Act, Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and Data Protection legislation. The Reclosure Panel will always consider whether a record can be opened in full, or whether redaction is possible to facilitate the release of some information, before considering full closure of the information.

When assessing cases, the Reclosure Panel considers the guiding principles listed above before they agree whether the record should remain available for public access or be closed in full or in part (if the latter applies, the rest of the record will be returned to public access). If a record is to be closed, either in full or in part, the Reclosure Panel will also agree the appropriate closure period for that record and will be guided by relevant legislation and/or regulatory guidance.

4. Scrutiny of decisions and Right of Appeal

When the Reclosure Panel decides to close information because it is seen to engage one or more of the qualified exemptions in the FOI Act, the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives (ACNRA) has scrutiny of the Panel’s decisions via a summary of applications provided to them.

Additionally, section 66(5) of the FOI Act requires that the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is consulted on the use of qualified exemptions and the balance of the public interest relating to the non-disclosure of historic public records held by The National Archives when a request is made under the FOI Act. In such cases, the ACNRA’s advice on the closure is submitted to DCMS to allow for this consultation.

When the Reclosure Panel decides to close information because it is seen to engage one (or more) of the absolute exemptions in the FOI Act, there is no requirement for a public interest test to be undertaken. Instead, following scrutiny by the Reclosure Panel, the application to reclose that information is submitted to the Deputy Chief Executive for review.

Should the person or authority who made a reclosure request disagree with the decision taken by the Reclosure Panel, then they have the right to appeal to the Chief Executive and Keeper of The National Archives. Appeals must be received within two months of the decision being notified to the person or authority who made the reclosure request. For further details, please contact the Quality Manager.

As with FOI requests, all reclosure requests and appeals will be treated on their own merits. Any record which has been reclosed may still be subject to future FOI requests, where the decision may be made to open the record – either in full or in part – because the exemptions engaged are no longer seen to apply to the requested information.

Contact Us

To contact us about information we hold that you believe needs referral to the Reclosure Panel, please use our online form.

The National Archives will work with researchers who wish to request access to records which are currently Access Under Review; to facilitate such research, researchers are encouraged to contact us.

Policy last reviewed: October 2025
Policy endorsed by the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives in May 2025

 

Further reading

Reclosure Statistics and Meetings

The National Archives publishes annual figures for reclosed records, along with minutes and dates of upcoming Reclosure Panel meetings: Reclosure Panel – The National Archives

Relevant legislation

The legal provisions underpinning public access to records held by The National Archives are the Public Records Act 1958 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and The National Archives must also protect some personal data in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR):

  • Under section 2(4) of the Public Records Act 1958, ‘the Keeper of Public Records shall have power to do all such things as appear to him necessary or expedient for maintaining the utility of the Public Record Office’
  • Section 5 of the Public Records Act 1958 explains how it is the duty of the Keeper of Public Records to ensure that public records held by The National Archives are made available to the public ‘in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000’
  • General access rights are defined by section 1 of the FOI Act 2000, subject to any exemptions as outlined in section 2. More information about the exemptions of the FOI Act can be found at the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
  • The Advisory Council on National Records and Archives provides independent external scrutiny of the Reclosure Panel’s decisions where qualified exemptions under the FOI Act are applied
  • As data controller for the information we hold, The National Archives must comply with its obligations under the UK GDPR. For more information on how The National Archives handles and processes personal data, please see our Privacy Notice.
  • Where someone holds copies of information which was once available to the public but has since been Reclosed, any use of the information must comply with the terms of the Data Protection Act.

Information in the public domain

While the previous availability of information in the public domain does inform the decisions of the Reclosure Panel, this does not necessarily mean that the information should remain ‘open’. To read more on this subject, please see the following links:

  • The Information Commissioner’s Office guidance explains how information must be ‘realistically accessible’ to the public, and outlines the key public interest factors to be considered: Information in the Public Domain.
  • The National Archives’ paper on Information in the Public Domain and access to Historical Records outlines the importance of considering the passage of time for information that may have once been in the public domain, and comparing the level of detail in the public domain against the withheld information.
  • To be considered as being in the public domain, the information needs to be readily accessible at the time of the request – i.e. it must be available in practice and not just in theory. It is useful to read the public domain guidance in conjunction with the following guidance on information readily accessible elsewhere – because if information is not reasonably accessible elsewhere it is not considered to be in the public domain.

Reclosure or withholding of catalogue descriptions

On rare occasions a catalogue description may be considered exempt under FOI and require redaction until the record becomes ‘open’ (either in full or in part). For more information, please see the following links:

Redaction

Redaction is the separation of disclosable from non-disclosable information by blocking out individual words, sentences or paragraphs or the removal of whole pages, to facilitate the release of information. Redaction is always considered by the Reclosure Panel. More information on how redaction works, and why it is not always feasible, can be found at the following links: