The Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 (PRSA) requires named public authorities to submit a Records Management Plan (RMP). This plan will be assessed by the PRSA team and if suitable will be agreed by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland (the Keeper).
You can view more information on Records Management Plans.
The Keeper has developed:
- a Model Plan
- supporting Guidance which incorporate a wide range of professional public sector expertise and knowledge
Guidance to the Keeper's Model Plan is available as a download below.
Other resources
The Keeper has also published the following documents to support the implementation of PRSA. These are available as downloads.
Supplementary Guidance on Proper Arrangements for Archiving Public Records
The Public Records (Scotland) Act, 2011 requires public authorities to have ‘Proper Arrangements’ in place for the management of their public records. These include the transfer of records selected for permanent preservation to an archive repository. This archive should have formal arrangements in place in terms of its constitution, finance, staffing, security, storage, collection care, and public access.
M365 Guidance from the Keeper of the Records of Scotland’s PRSA Assessment Team
With many of Scotland’s public authorities considering the adoption of Microsoft in the Cloud (M365) as their principal records and information management solution, the Assessment Team developed guidance to help authorities understand some of the issues associated with implementing M365. By having regard to this guidance authorities can develop solutions to these issues and, in so doing, ensure they remain compliant with expectations under the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 (the Act).
The guidance suggests questions that an authority (the public authority named in the Act) implementing M365 might ask, and maps these to the relevant elements in the Keeper’s Model Records Management Plan.
Digital Preservation toolkit for Scottish local authorities
Proper arrangements must be made for records of any format. This includes digital records.
The aim of these tools is to help local authorities with their digital preservation preparation and execution. The tools can be found below – if you have any queries or comments on these please do get in touch.
You can download below the:
- Digital Preservation for Local Authorities: Top Level Guidance
- Local Authority Digital Capacity Planning Tool
- Local Authority Digital Capacity Planning Tool: User Guide
