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Complying with the Records Management Code: Evaluation Workbook and Methodology - Consultation Draft

31 March 2005

The Freedom of Information Act was implemented fully in January 2005. The Act creates a right of access to official information and places a duty on public authorities to publish information in accordance with "publication schemes". In addition, the Act encourages all public authorities to maintain their records in accordance with the provisions of a Code of Practice issued by the Lord Chancellor under section 46 of the Act giving guidance on the practice which, in his opinion, it would be desirable for them to follow in connection with the keeping, management and destruction of records (hereafter referred to as the Records Management Code).

The National Archives (TNA) has developed an evaluation workbook to assist public authorities in assessing conformance of their record management systems to the Records Management Code. This edition of the workbook has been published as a formal public consultation draft, and comments and contributions are invited. It is intended to produce and publish a revised edition following the end of the consultation period in July 2005. To access a copy of the workbook, please click on one of the links provided below. One copy is in rich text format (RTF) and the other is in portable document format (PDF).

The workbook focuses on the areas listed in the Records Management Code for action. The action points are further defined in the model action plans. These are:

Records management function
Record Management policy statement
Roles and responsibilities
Training and awareness
Records creation and record keeping
Records maintenance
Records disposal
Access (part of Records creation and record keeping which it has been more convenient to handle separately)

It also contains a chapter on

Performance measurement

Completing the questionnaire contained in this workbook will establish the degree to which an organisation complies with the Record Management Code. It also provides a mechanism to evaluate the level of risk to the organisation by records management that does not conform to the Records Management Code and considers appropriate mitigation strategies.

Those wishing to comment on the document or requiring further information and assistance concerning the role of this workbook are requested to send all submissions and comments by 30 June 2005 to the email rmadvisory@nationalarchives.gov.uk .

This page contains PDF and RTF files. See plug-ins and file formats for help in accessing these file types.