Articles from 2014

17 November 2014

The Keeper is currently developing guidance for detailing the proper arrangements for archiving public records. Under element 7 of the Keeper’s Model Records Management Plan and Guidance to the Model Record Management Plan, authorities listed under schedule 1 of the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 must make arrangements for records to be transferred to an ‘appropriate archive repository’. This document aims to help authorities understand what the Keeper regards as ‘an appropriate archive repository’ by laying down the proper arrangements that they must consider when identifying an appropriate archive for records which have been selected for permanent preservation.

The Keeper is also in the process of updating the schedule to the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011. The schedule lists those authorities covered by the Act. The update will remove bodies that no longer exist, reflect name changes and add new authorities. This will require a Statutory Instrument to go before Parliament, most likely early in 2015.

10 November 2014

September saw the autumn series of Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 surgeries take place in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Once again these were very popular and well attended.   They followed the previous format of surgeries held in April and May with presentations on the background to the Act, the 14 elements and presentations by invited guest speakers from authorities who have had their plans agreed. These presentations were given by Glasgow City Council and the Mental Welfare Commission who willingly shared their experience with delegates. We plan to run further surgeries in 2015, and following feedback from those who attended this year’s events, will focus more on sharing the experiences of those who have completed the process.

29 August 2014

Keeper's Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 Annual Report 

The Keeper's second Annual Report on the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 has now been published.  

The report shows that an increasing number of Records Management Plans (RMPs) have been agreed. The Keeper’s assessment reports for these can be found here . The assessment team is still in the early stages of the process but is on target to invite all scheduled authorities within 5 years. This target will be achieved through continuous engagement with the Keeper's assessment team and between authorities themselves. The Keeper continues to be encouraged by the work authorities are undertaking towards meeting their obligations under the new legislation.

20 May 2014

During April and May a series of four spring surgery events were held across Scotland to further publicise the Act. Surgeries remain a crucial mechanism for successful stakeholder engagement and took place in Inverness, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy and Helensburgh. A total of 61 delegates representing 55 different authorities attended representing a wide variety of sectors.

Like previous surgeries, the assessment team discussed the background to the Act and the 14 elements of the Keeper’s Model Plan. This time however, the surgeries featured talks from four invited guests from public authorities who had successfully completed the process and had their Records Management Plan agreed by the Keeper. Talks were provided by Moray Council, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, The Scottish Information Commissioner and NHS Education for Scotland. Formal feedback from delegates was very positive and we intend to run a further series of surgeries during the autumn.

24 January 2014

As you know, we periodically update the Keeper’s Guidance Document which can be found at Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 - Resources.

This was done in January 2014, with broken links removed or updated. Also, we are pleased to provide a link to the latest records management plan to be published, that of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). Links to published plans can be found on page 72 of the Guidance Document. Alternatively, you can consult the SLAB plan on the Scottish Legal Aid Board website.