Public access

¶3.15 Before public records are 30 years old, they should be destroyed if not suitable for permanent preservation or, alternatively, they should be transferred to The National Archives or a Place of Deposit (PoD),³³ PoDS are repositories authorised by the Keeper of Public Records as suitable for the permanent archiving of records, usually created locally and of regional or local importance, considered to be of national significance such as records relating to Hillsborough. normally a local Record Office. At this time they become open to the public, unless retention/closure of complete or partial records is agreed by the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.

¶3.16 Organisations can transfer and disclose records before 30 years but they are under no obligation to do so. At the time of the Panel's appointment, documents relating to Hillsborough were within the 30-year period.

¶3.17 Coroners' records are court records and subject to the Coroners Rules 1984. They are defined as public records and undergo selection for permanent preservation at PoDs appointed under Section 4(1) of the Public Records Act 1958. Currently, they should be transferred by 30 years to a PoD and then become subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Coroners' records are outside freedom of information (FOI) requests until they are deposited in a PoD at 30 years, when they come within FOIA.

¶3.18 In practice and by convention, PoDs always refer back to depositing organisations, particularly if the material sought under FOIA is less than 30 years old. In summary, therefore, coroners' records should be deposited by 30 years. If they are deposited prior to that time they may be closed because they are subject to the court records exemption under Section 32 of FOIA.⁴⁴ The Freedom of Information Act 2000 has provision for access to 'historical' records, i.e. those older than 30 years when many of the exemptions fall away. It is at present under review.

Recommendation 1

¶The Panel considers that the implementation of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009⁵⁵ The Coroners and Justice Act 2009, www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/25/contents. For the appointment of the Chief Coroner of England and Wales, see www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18156598, reported 22 May 2012. should bring about a more consistent approach to the archiving and availability of transferred records and encourages the newly appointed Chief Coroner of England and Wales to issue guidance in consultation with the Keeper of Public Records.

¶3.19 Other records disclosed to the Panel, including the South Yorkshire Police records, are not subject to legislation in respect of archiving obligations; nor are privately owned records. At the outset of the Panel's work, the South Yorkshire Police stated that records held by the Force relevant to Hillsborough would be disclosed for public access. These hard-copy records are deposited in Sheffield Archives and are publicly accessible online.

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¶3.20 Most documents sought for disclosure by the Panel were produced within the 30-year period of transfer. In normal circumstances, organisations subject to the Public Records Acts would not be obliged to disclose or make them accessible except through the provisions of FOIA and other relevant Access to Information legislation.

¶3.21 At 30 years FOI legislation deems records to be historical and many of the exemptions to disclosure are lifted.

¶3.22 For historical research, wholesale disclosure is critical, enabling the full context of the history of a matter to be known. This applies to the Panel's proposed Distributed Permanent Archive, both digital and hard copy.

¶3.23 Unlike the regulatory framework under which central government and other designated public records bodies operate, there is no official archival legislation requiring the provision of archive services at local and regional level for records that have been created by an administrative body, or for other records in its custody. There are a number of Acts and Statutory Instruments that, to an extent, safeguard historical records, but the wording is often open to interpretation and archiving may be incomplete. This has been an issue for the Panel and, on occasion, has made the work of the Panel difficult.

¶Public authorities

¶3.24 Public authorities, including the police forces and Ambulance Service involved, have disclosed a significant amount of documents and material to the Panel. As public authorities, they have statutory obligations to keep and maintain records for operational (and perhaps historical) reasons and may make arrangements to preserve important records.

¶3.25 They can 'warehouse' records with a suitable commercial organisation while retaining ownership and accountability for responding to FOI requests or, at an appropriate time, donate the material formally to an archive (such as Sheffield Archives, an appointed PoD) for preservation. FOI responsibility then passes to the archive. The Sheffield Archive maintains high standards in storage and curatorial care, and has in its collection various coroners' records, and court, probate and council records.

¶3.26 In summary, varying obligations are established in legislation affecting the eventual disposition of differently sourced records to any Distributed Permanent Archive. In the case of private records, they may never be deposited. Regarding Hillsborough, they will be accessible via the Panel's website. Thus the website becomes a critical part of the Permanent Archive as it holds material digitally which might not be accessible in its original form elsewhere.

¶Records of police forces in England and Wales

¶3.27 It has been a concern to the Panel that, with the exception of the Metropolitan Police, police forces in England and Wales are not subject to the Public Records Acts. Neither are police force documents part of the record of local government. In many cases the documentary evidence they hold is poor.⁶⁶ Chris A Williams and Clive Emsley, 'British Police forces' Archiving Policies in 2003'. In: Chris Williams (ed.) Giving the Past a Future – Preserving the heritage of the UK's Criminal Justice System (London: Francis Boutle, 2003). See also Archives at the Millennium p16, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/archmill.pdf.

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¶3.28 Although there have been initiatives to improve their record keeping and archiving, a survey in 2003⁷⁷ www.acpo.police.uk/ProfessionalPractice/InformationManagement.aspx. found that only approximately one-third of police forces had archiving policies. Most indicated that contact with a local record office or archive was rare. Consequently, provision made by individual forces for publicly accessible archives has been, and remains, voluntary. This has led to wide variations in the preservation and availability of historic records in local record offices or national and local museums.

¶Recommendation 2

¶The Panel recommends that police force records are brought under legislative control and that police forces are added to Part II of the First Schedule to the Public Records Act

¶1958, thereby making them subject to the supervision of the Keeper of Public Records.

¶Main locations for the Distributed Permanent Archive

¶3.29 The Panel was asked to consider options for providing a Permanent Archive for the Hillsborough documents. It proposes a Distributed Archive approach for the hard-copy material with the digital form being archived at The National Archives.

¶3.30 The digital archive will provide the primary means of access to the Hillsborough Archive. Via the Panel's website, it will be the sole coherent source of all material disclosed to the Panel and should be considered as part of the Permanent Archive, not just as a website.

¶3.31 In the Panel's view there are three main possibilities for the Distributed Permanent Archive of original, hard-copy documents and material: The National Archives, Sheffield Archive and Liverpool Record Office. Each is involved in archiving Hillsborough material already. The Panel therefore proposes that they should become the main centres of the Distributed Permanent Archive.

¶3.32 Other public records are distributed throughout the UK according to the nature of the records and the suitability and locality of the repositories under the PoD arrangements. This well-established process has operated since the Public Records Act 1958 came into force and the Panel considers it should obtain in holding additional Hillsborough material.

¶Recommendation 3

¶The Panel recommends that central government documents relating to Hillsborough which were disclosed to the Panel be transferred to The National Archives at Kew in due course, with redactions agreed by the Panel retained.

¶3.33 Regarding non-central government public records, only the Keeper of Public Records has the power to transfer public records from The National Archives to an appointed PoD, and from one PoD to another should they be more appropriately held elsewhere (Public Records Act 1958, Section 4(3)).

¶3.34 A PoD cannot be compelled to accept transfers but it must agree to receive them if the records are outside its existing collecting remit and PoD schedule.

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¶3.35 Removal of locally created public records (e.g. coroners' records) relating to Hillsborough from Sheffield to another location would be contrary to The National Archives' published disposition strategy and would give rise to several presentational issues locally. This would not serve to assist the making of a Permanent Archive and could disrupt the archiving process.

¶Amount of original material involved

¶3.36 Including central government material, the documents disclosed to the Panel amount to approximately 735 linear metres of archive boxes. Assuming that central government material is excluded, since it will be absorbed by The National Archives, approximately up to 700 linear metres of material will need to be accommodated by the PoDs.

¶3.37 Given the pressure on space at archives and their modest future acquisition rates, such a volume could be very difficult for one archive to absorb as a new deposit. Thus it would be economical to share the burden.

¶3.38 Irrespective of costs which might be incurred in moving original records from one location to another, there are complicating issues relating to the relocation of records. Without the consent of the owners or relevant statutory authority, records cannot be removed from the custody of the creators of records or the repository in which they have been deposited in accordance with legislation and archival practice.

¶Sheffield Archives

¶3.39 Sheffield Archives is the records repository and archive service for the city of Sheffield and the South Yorkshire area, operated by Sheffield City Council under the Local Government (Records) Act 1962, the Local Government Act 1974 and other relevant legislation. Sheffield Archives also has been appointed as a PoD under Section 4(1) of the Public Records Act 1958 to hold locally created public records, including those of the NHS and Her Majesty's Coroner.

¶3.40 It provides the full range of services expected from a local archive and local studies collection as well as a conservation studio and records management service for Sheffield City Council. A formal inspection by The National Archives in 2005 and subsequent monitoring of the service, together with the results of The National Archives' self- assessment exercise for local authority archive services, indicate that Sheffield Archives provides a high standard of service meeting the requirements of The National Archives' Standard for Record Repositories (2004). This is the recognised national benchmark for archive services.

¶3.41 Normally, costs associated with preservation and provision of access to the local records relating to the Hillsborough disaster would be borne by Sheffield Archives but they may require additional funding to absorb the deposits. This would unite the material disclosed to the Panel, as a large proportion of the records created by official and other bodies in connection with the Hillsborough disaster is held in Sheffield Archives.

¶Liverpool Record Office

¶3.42 Liverpool Record Office is the principal archive repository for the City of Liverpool and the Merseyside area, operated by Liverpool City Council. It fulfils functions similar to those of Sheffield Archives and has many important official and deposited private collections relating to the city and Merseyside sub-region. It is also a PoD under Section 4(1) of the Public Records Act 1958.

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¶3.43 Refurbishment of the Liverpool Record Office is expected to be completed in late 2012. Liverpool City Council and the Record Office would need to make additional financial and accommodation provision to absorb part of the Distributed Permanent Archive.

¶3.44 The Record Office can provide a digital service and professional support close to where many families, survivors and others affected by the disaster live. Liverpool Football Club and other organisations have indicated that they are prepared to deposit documents and records relating to Hillsborough at the Record Office.

¶Recommendation 4 The Panel proposes a Distributed Permanent Archive of the original material at Sheffield Archives and Liverpool Record Office and for central government records at The National Archives at Kew. Such a Distributed Archive is in keeping with the nature of the records and the services which the three archives can best provide and which they are willing to do.

¶Recommendation 5 Private owners of documents and other material made available to the Panel, especially where those records have been disclosed on the Hillsborough website, should be encouraged to deposit their records in the archives.