10 February 2005

The following is a summary of the meeting of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on National Records and Archives held on 10 February 2005 at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The Rt Hon Lord Phillips, Master of the Rolls, was in the chair. Members present were: Sir Rodric Braithwaite, Sir Patrick Cormack, the Viscount De L'Isle, Miss Rosemary Dunhill, Sir David Durie, Mr Peter Fox, Dr Dorothy Johnston, Professor Heidi Mirza, Lord Roper, Dr Elizabeth Shepherd, Mr Andreas Whittam Smith and Miss Stephanie Williams. Also present were Mrs Sarah Tyacke, Keeper of Public Records and Historical Manuscripts Commissioner, together with Dr David Thomas, Dr Elizabeth Hallam Smith, Ms Meg Sweet, Dr Norman James and Ms Julie Skipp of The National Archives, and Mr Tim Padfield, Secretary.

Membership of the Council

The Lord Chancellor has appointed eight new members of the Council, to replace those who retired in December. They are Sir Rodric Braithwaite GCMG, Ms Else Churchill, Professor Harry Dickinson, Sir David Durie KCMG, Professor Heidi Mirza, Dr Michael Riley, the Rt Hon the Lord Roper and Ms Stephanie Williams.

Freedom of Information

The Council reviewed how panels of members would consider cases on which consultation with it was required, following the experience of the members of the first such Panel. It was agreed that the area on which the Council was best qualified to advise was that of the public interest; advice on the application of individual exemptions should only be sought as a last resort. The consideration of the competing public interests in release and non-disclosure of material subject to an exemption was very similar to the consideration of applications for extended closure, with which the Council had long experience.

A new aspect of the public interest question could arise in cases where the exemption for confidential information might apply. The most likely defence against a breach of confidence action would be that release was in the public interest. It seemed reasonable to expect an applicant to make a case for this, without any need for him or her to give reasons for the application. It was agreed that panel members needed clear information about the case under review and a clear statement of the questions on which advice was sought. Panel members should select a spokesperson, who could report back the agreed conclusions.

Access to public records

The Council concluded that it could not help with an appeal for access to further information from a Security Service file on the German agent Vera Erikson, since all that had been withheld was the identities of the Service's agents.

The National Archives

The Council commented as usual on the draft corporate and business plans and the draft fees order for The National Archives. It recognised the need for a substantial revision of the scales of fees, since only individual fees had been revised since 1999. On this basis, the overall increase of about 8% was less than general price inflation over the same period. The Council praised the scale of innovation revealed by the plans, together with the continuing commitment to more traditional services and activities.

The Council also commented on a draft custodial policy for the preservation of digital records, though some doubt was expressed about the viability of many such records even after only ten years. It accepted that the digital form of documents created electronically was the original record for preservation purposes, and must be preserved elecronically.