Information and records management policy

All staff who create, receive or use records will have some responsibility for their management. Specific responsibilities are outlined below.

The Executive Board will be responsible for:

• Approval of a corporate framework for the management of records within the Council.
• Promotion of a culture and practice of good records management throughout the Council.
• Ensuring that sufficient resources and staffing are available for the maintenance of the records management function.
• Ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and other legislation appertaining to the management of, and access to, records.
• Promoting the value of historic records and ensuring their preservation as a corporate memory.

Heads of Service will be responsible for:

• Ensuring that the records management policy is implemented and complied with in the services under their control.
• Ensuring that staff have access to corporate training, development and support in records management matters.
• Ensuring that all records within their service area have an identified owner, responsible for their management whilst in use.
• Ensuring the adherence to proper procedures to ensure that no unauthorised destruction of records occurs, particularly any wilful destruction of records pertinent to a request made under the Freedom of Information Act and which would constitute a breach of section 77 of the Act. Ensuring that a satisfactory audit trail exists for records destroyed according to the document retention schedules.
• Ensuring that adequate arrangements are in place for the permanent storage of long term importance.
• Ensure that business recovery plans are in place to allow continuity of service in the event of a disaster.

All employees are responsible for:

• Adhering to corporate and service records management policies.
• Filing records according to a file structure appropriate to their subject and format to enable easy retrieval when required.
• Ensuring that all records, regardless of format are stored safely in suitable conditions.
• Ensuring that records are retained in accordance with the retention schedules and disposed of according to corporate and service policies when their retention period has expired.

Employees with specific responsibilities for records management will have these clearly set out in their job description and person specification.