Lifecycle of Parliamentary Documents: United Kingdom
3. Public Records Act
The Public Records Office Act was enacted in 1838 to provide for the safekeeping of public records.[1] It originally only covered legal documents, and placed these documents in a nonministerial department under the Master of the Rolls as the keeper of records.[2] The Public Records Act 1958 was enacted and extended the remit of public records to:
administrative and departmental records belonging to Her Majesty, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, in right of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom and, in particular,—
(a) records of, or held in, any department of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, or
(b) records of any office, commission or other body or establishment whatsoever under Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, shall be public records.[3]
Parliamentary records do not appear to fall under the definition of public records contained in this Act, which places the duty on government departments and offices to manage their records. To comply with this duty, each department appoints a record officer who is responsible for all public records produced by the department. The record officers work with the information management department of the National Archives to select the records that should be permanently preserved, ensure the records are prepared to archival standards, and prepare finding aids. The information management department also “advises other government departments on good record keeping, and promotes the effective and efficient management of records across government.”[4]
Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own national record offices. In Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland holds records of courts and government departments that are wholly or mostly concerned with Scottish affairs.[5] The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland contains the records of the courts and government departments for Northern Ireland.[6]
4. Standing Orders
Standing Orders of the House require a number of papers and bills to be printed and, in some circumstances, deposited in the Vote Office and Private Bill Office.[7]
- ↑ Public Record Office Act 1838, 1 & 2 Vict. c. 94.
- ↑ History of the Public Records Acts, The National Archives, https://perma.cc/XL7H-SWYF.
- ↑ Public Records Act 1958, c. 51, sched. 2, https://perma.cc/4S2J-9GZN.
- ↑ The Public Records System, The National Archives, https://perma.cc/SSX9-D28Y.
- ↑ Public Records (Scotland) Act 1937, 1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6, c. 43, https://perma.cc/KNT6-5LD5; Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011, asp. 12, https://perma.cc/KVQ2-MRVT.
- ↑ Public Records Act (Northern Ireland) 1923, c. 20, https://perma.cc/M59D-KP2D.
- ↑ See, for example, House of Commons, Standing Orders: Public Business 2019, 2019-20, HC 314, Order 57, https://perma.cc/R52P-CH4C; House of Commons, Standing Orders of the House of Commons: Private Business 2017, 2017-18, Order 38, https://perma.cc/4FRU-YMMJ; House of Lords, Standing Orders of the House of Lords, Public Business, 2020-21, HL 232, Order 49, https://perma.cc/K467-P46S.
