The Public Record Office (PRO) and the Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC) are combining - from 1 April 2003 - to form the National Archives. The new body, which will report to the Lord Chancellor, will lay the foundation for a service which will be better equipped to meet the needs of the two organisations' current and future stakeholders.
Tessa Blackstone said:
"We believe the establishment of a new National Archives body, bringing together the functions of the HMC and PRO, will provide a more effective and efficient archives service to the UK. It is particularly timely that the PRO and HMC are coming together as they will be closely involved in the work of the Archives Task Force that I have also asked Matthew Evans, Chairman of Resource, to convene to examine the general state of archives in the UK."
The National Archives will maintain the quality of advice for the public sector and the owners of private archives. It will also offer more efficient delivery of all services and better value for money. In particular:
- There will be a single lead body to take forward Government Policy on Archives and its Action Plan, working with other bodies such as Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries.
- The full range of services offered by the two organisations to all their stakeholders and users will be maintained, and where possible improved, and a single regime for inspecting archive repositories will be developed.
- Our heritage of historic records, in both public and private hands, will be better managed, safeguarded and promoted under single leadership.
- Users will have improved access, via the internet, to information about both public and private records, consolidating the ground-breaking work of the National Register of Archives and recent initiatives such as the PRO's on-line catalogue, PROCAT.
- Policy and problem-solving across the whole archives sector will be better coordinated. This will be especially important in critical areas such as coping with new technology and in helping to implement and monitor new information legislation such as the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts.
- Staff will benefit by being part of a larger organisation, with enhanced career prospects and training opportunities.
Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Chairman of HMC, said:
" I welcome this ambitious new venture in which the skills and talents of HMC and the PRO will be brought together in the national interest. Private owners of archives, together with custodians and users and the countless other bodies that have regularly sought HMC's assistance, can be assured that over the coming months we shall put in place all the arrangements necessary to guarantee them the same level of support and confidential and impartial advice that they have enjoyed hitherto."
Lord Phillips, Master of the Rolls and Chairman of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on Public Records, said:
"I and the members of the Advisory Council are delighted by the news that the PRO and the HMC are to work together to provide a single national archives service. The Advisory Council looks forward to welcoming new members with expertise in non-public records of all kinds so that the Lord Chancellor may rely on us for informed, objective and independent advice on all records matters."
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, Chairman of Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, said:
"This is excellent news, not only for the archives sector, but for everyone who uses the rich resources they offer. Archives are the heart of our recorded heritage. They provide an invaluable resource to both those studying our history and seeking to understand the world today. This coming together of two leading organisations is a welcome move in unifying the sector, and in strengthening its voice, so that the nation's archives enjoy the recognition and support that they so clearly warrant."
Sarah Tyacke, Keeper of Public Records, who will head the new National Archives, and Chris Kitching, Secretary of the HMC, said:
"We are very pleased that our two organisations are coming together to realise the vision of a National Archives. Building on the achievements of both organisations, we will be better able to safeguard the nation's memory for present and future generations to enjoy."
Notes for Editors
The decision to set up a national Archives has been reached in discussions between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission, following a review of the HMC's functions by Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield published today. The resources of both organisations will be combined and staff at HMC will, in due course, be joining most of the PRO's staff at the current Public Record Office building in Kew.
Background Notes
1. The Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC) was set up in 1869 by Royal Warrant to discover and disseminate information about archives held in private and institutional hands. Its Reports on individual collections of papers and its Guides to Sources for British History remain staple works of reference.
Under a new Royal Warrant of 1959 HMC became the central advisory body on archives. It provides free expert advice to owners, custodians and users of archives. They include central and local government, the universities, business and industry, many other individuals and institutions, and a range of public and private grant-awarding bodies. The HMC Standard for record repositories is the principal national benchmark for archive services.
The Commission's remit has covered every kind of written record other than those of Government. Its information-gathering and advice has extended to the whole of the United Kingdom. It maintains the National Register of Archives (founded in 1945), whose indexes are available on its pioneering website
http://www.hmc.gov.uk/). This has achieved an international reputation and last year was accessed by around a million users. No other country in the world has such an advanced, publicly-available database on archives.
ARCHON, the Commission's electronic gateway, links the NRA to archive repositories and similar institutions in the United Kingdom. It is central to many current archival networking projects including the Access to Archives programme (A2A launched in 2000) in which HMC has been a partner with the Public Record Office and the British Library.
The Commissioners, currently 12 in number, chaired by Lord Bingham of Cornhill, oversee every aspect of the Commission's work. Their principal responsibility has been as a public watchdog discussing, charting and seeking to improve the 'archival health' of the nation through periodic Reports to the Crown. Their most recent report, Archives at the Millennium, was published in 1999.
For further information about HMC contact: Chris Kitching on 020 7242 1198 (fax 020 7831 3550; email
chrisk@hmc.gov.ukHistorical Manuscripts Commission, Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP
2. The Public Record Office (PRO)
http://www.pro.gov.uk/ holds the national archives of the United Kingdom, England and Wales. Founded in 1838, it administers the UK's public records system under the Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. The PRO's records span 1000 years - from Domesday Book to the latest government papers to be released - and fill more than 100 miles of shelving.
The PRO is a government department and an executive agency, and reports to the Lord Chancellor.
The PRO's core functions are:
- To advise Government on policy
- To oversee records management in government, including the move to electronic records management and the selection of public records for preservation, to provide an information resource for our generation and for future generations
- To preserve the public records
- To provide access to the public records and promote their value and use as a national information and educational resource.
Public records are the administrative and departmental records of the Crown. They include written documents, maps, seals, photographs, moving images, sound recordings, and electronic records created and read by computers.
Public records tell us about the processes and actions of the state and about its relationship with its citizens. They can also be used for historical and genealogical research, to make government accountable to the people, to inform Government decisions and as legal evidence.
The records are available for consultation - free of charge - at the Public Record Office in Kew, West London, and at the Family Records Centre, in Islington. Some of the most famous records are on display in Kew, such as Domesday Book, Shakespeare's will, telegrams from the Titanic, and the letters of Jack the Ripper.
For further information on the Public Record Office contact: Robert Smith, PRO Press Office, on 020 8392 5277 (fax 020 8392 5295; email
press@pro.gov.ukPublic Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU
3. The Advisory Council on Public Records was established by the Public Records Act 1958 (s1(2)):
to advise the Lord Chancellor on matters concerning public records in general and, in particular, on those aspects of the work of the Public Record Office which affect members of the public who make use of the facilities provided by the Public Record Office.
The Council's most important task is to consider applications from departments for the extended closure of public records beyond the normal 30 years, or for the retention of public records by departments. The Lord Chancellor never signs an instrument approving extended closures or retentions until he has received advice on it from the Advisory Council. The reasons for applications are scrutinised closely, and departments are often asked for further justification. This reconsideration can lead to a document being made available after all.
The Advisory Council also considers other subjects, such as the PRO's corporate plan and its performance against its objectives and targets; the level and fairness of fees; public services; preservation policy; publications policy; and public records in places of deposit outside the PRO.
The Advisory Council is chaired by the Master of the Rolls, ex officio, and normally has 16 members appointed by the Lord Chancellor. These include academic historians, professional record researchers, teachers, politicians, journalists, archivists and information science professionals.
The Advisory Council reports to the Lord Chancellor every year in an annual report by the Master of the Rolls, which is published with the Keeper's Report. On matters of urgency or of particular importance it asks the Master of the Rolls to write to the Lord Chancellor directly.
For further information about the Advisory Council on Public Records contact the Secretary, Tim Padfield, on 020 8392 5381 (fax 020 8392 5295; e-mail
tim.padfield@pro.gov.uk) at the Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU
