Cabinet Office
In order to manage their records effectively and fulfil their obligations under the Public Records Acts, departments need to maintain inventories of their electronic and other records, and subject the records to disposal schedules based on the administrative and permanent value of the websites. The Public Records Act 1958 requires that every person responsible for public records of any description shall make arrangements for the selection of records for permanent preservation and for their safe keeping. Web managers are advised that when there is any doubt then legal advice should be sought.
1.10.5.1 Details of the Public Records Act
Public records selected for permanent preservation must be transferred to the Public Record Office not later than thirty years after their creation (except with the approval by the Lord Chancellor in certain defined circumstances). In order to ensure that websites (or parts of websites) can be preserved as long as necessary for the conduct of public business, and if selected for permanent preservation, can be preserved permanently by the Public Record Office, proper electronic records management procedures must be followed to safeguard copies of different versions against loss, interference, or electronic degradation.
Electronic records management needs to take into account that a website may contain materials that could influence the actions of a member of the public. It is also the case that the context in which the material is presented on the site may influence such actions, and that some sites may contain information collected from real-time transactions. It is therefore the responsibility of departments and agencies to assess whether or not copies of complete websites or discrete documents on websites should be preserved in order that they can be produced as authentic records of the information and advice supplied by that organisation.
Departments and agencies need to conduct an exposure analysis of their sites and determine whether it is sufficient to retain copies of individual documents on the website, or whether they should take copies of the entire site. If the former approach is taken, departments and agencies should develop procedures to ensure that record copies of website documents are in fact consistently captured and securely stored as corporate records. If the latter approach is adopted, the analysis should also determine the frequency with which the copies should be taken. Further information may be found at the following website:
The National Archive
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/recordsmanagement/ [External website]