A digitised record

Records management

Government has a duty to manage its paper and digital records effectively - to support ongoing business, and to preserve the record and memory of government.

Responsibilities

Government departments, and other organisations within the scope of the Public Records Act 1958, are responsible for selecting records to be permanently preserved and keeping them in proper conditions.

The National Archives' chief executive is responsible for co-ordinating and supervising the work of selection.

• The Cabinet Office's Data Handling Procedures in Government review

• The section 46 Code of Practice on the Management of Records issued under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

• Information Matters - government's knowledge and information management strategy

• Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government, which advocates greater access to government data

For more information about policy and legislation affecting records management see policy and legislation and Government Knowledge and Information Management.

Guidance

The National Archives produces guidance on all aspects of records management.

Selection and transfer

The criteria for selecting which public records are kept, and where they go, are set out in our selection and disposition policies.

The digital challenge

The vast majority of government records are now created and stored electronically. Electronic records need active intervention to keep them readable and usable.

• We provide the tools to enable government departments to transfer digital records to The National Archives
• We're developing tools and guidance to enable central government departments to access digital information for as long as they need to, for ongoing business use - the digital continuity project
• Our web continuity project is making sure that links in government websites remain active

Support from The National Archives

We provide support to records managers across the public sector, covering the entire life cycle of public records, in whatever format, from creation through to destruction or transfer to The National Archives or approved places of deposit.

Liaison with local government, and the wider public and archiving sectors, is carried out by Archives Sector Development.

Information management assessment

We provide independent information management assessment for government departments to ensure that they meet the required standards for collection, storage, access, use and disposal of information.