National Archives - Kew Tips?

I told you to stay away from those MI6 files Charley.

Kind regards, tinker, tailor, soldier, ..... always,

Jim.

 

Funny things found in files at kew.

Unusual discovery at The National Archives

 

Was it filed under "H"?

Kind regards, a find not to be snorted at, always,

Jim.

 

Kew Non-Executive Directors minutes of a meeting held on 10th June 2025 have been published since yesterday:

https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/board-minutes-2025-02.pdf

 

Thanks Papiermache

As normal there is no detail or papers that set out the detail.....hence it isn't anything near as useful as it could be. I would be particularly interested in the MOD Service Records FOI Lessons Learned report. I wonder just what detailed feedback from users was included?

10.2. RP provided a verbal update on the 24 February meeting of the ARC. He noted the heavy agenda and the items that had been considered, including a progress update on an assurance map. He praised LF and her team on the MoD Service Records FOI Lessons Learned report. He also noted a review was underway by NAO on fees and charges and recommended this as a potential item for an all Board Thought Leadership session.

 

You could put in a FOI request for them to supply a copy of the report.

According to all their self-assessments they're fairly good at responding to these.

 

I have not seen the words "data sovereignty" used in any minutes before:

"2.4. There was a question around data sovereignty and assurances were provided that we use Cloud services as well as storing copies of records at Kew in the Tape Library, which the Board expressed an interest in visiting."

Not exactly reassuring, and neither was this:

"10.2. To summarise the results, as in previous years, the 2025 survey showed that departments were holding a growing backlog of legacy digital records and were still unable to appraise, select, review and transfer meaningful volumes to The National Archives.

In contrast, they had a good grip on paper records."

In the past, The Public Records Act has been referred to as "format-neutral", which means that Kew can make up notions of Clouds and surrogate records by themselves, but the Kew directors might make a rod for their own back if they ask for more legislation:

"3.5. There was a further discussion around navigating legislative change and the Board noted our past activities in this area; constraints of the Public Records Act and challenges of the FOIA; and how comparable national archives navigate the issues."

"10.4. During the discussion, the Board’s ambition of becoming the ‘Archive of the State’ was reiterated.

This included possibilities of collecting digital records from public bodies which fall outside the Public Records Act, such as NHS, Police, ONS and MI6 and making them accessible."

The "Archive of the State", somewhere in the Cloud beyond the seas ( apart from the Tape Library ) ?

 

Some up-coming events that may be of interest:

https://news.enews.nationalarchives...aign=Pre-sale+mailer+Q4+What's+On+04.12.2025+

 

The new Kew blog is rather good, several WW2 subjects.

The collection blog