Open ForumOpen Forum5 december 20135 december 2013

BrusselBrussel

KeynoteKeynote

Nick Kingley,Nick Kingley,Head of Archives Sector Head of Archives Sector Development & Development & Secretary of the Secretary of the Historical Manuscripts Historical Manuscripts Commission, The Commission, The National Archives UKNational Archives UK

Open ForumOpen Forum5 december 20135 december 2013

BrusselBrussel

KeynoteKeynote

Nick Kingley,Nick Kingley,Head of Archives Sector Head of Archives Sector Development & Development & Secretary of the Secretary of the Historical Manuscripts Historical Manuscripts Commission, The Commission, The National Archives UKNational Archives UK

18/03/2014 | Closed Brainstorm meetings around diversity | Antwerp and Ghent 19/03/2014 | Conference Mainstreaming Diversity | Brussels

18 – 22/08/2014 | Summer School Archives & Education | Neerpelt

Nick Kingsley

FARO, 5 December 2013

Archives for the 21st century: policy, strategy and action

Policy, Strategy and Action

• Policy• Process• Content

• Implementation• Turning policy into action• A sudden change in our

circumstances• Archives for the 21st

century in action - refreshed

• What has been achieved?• What next?

Developing the policy: process

• Analysis of the existing evidence base

• Identification of some key themes

• Ministerial clearance of consultation draft

• “New burdens assessment” in England & Wales and formal impact assessment

• Three month public consultation with 625 responses

• Publication of all consultation responses and of the formal Government response to them

• Translation of the policy into Welsh

• Publication of the completed policy and its presentation in Parliament by the Minister

Analysis of the evidence base

Key challenges identified

• Local authorities offering services of widely diverging quality & not co-operating

• Inadequate buildings• Lack of proactive collection

development• Online access incomplete• Lack of capability to manage

born digital records• Lack of clear and strong

leadership in and of the sector

Questions for debate in 2008

• How far could structural changes contribute to optimising efficiency and effectiveness?

• Would ‘fewer bigger better’ services secure capital investment?• Are cross-sectoral partnerships part of the answer?• Should we change or develop the existing framework of standards,

inspections and approval in any way?• How urgent is it to address the born digital challenge?• How important is it to strengthen leadership at all levels? What role

should TNA and MLA play in future?• Who can make the case for archives most effectively and how can

archives secure increased priority for funding?• What more can be done to increase the non-public funding of

archives?

Formal consultation propositions

• In the longer term, there is significant value in moving towards fewer, bigger, better archive services for a more sustainable future (51% agreed; 36% disagreed)

• Strengthened leadership and a responsive skilled workforce are necessary to raise the profession’s profile at both a national and local level (85% agreed; 6% disagreed)

• Developing a co-ordinated response to managing digital information and for continued access in the future (94% agreed; 3% disagreed)

• Ensuring that there is comprehensive access to archive catalogues and content (94% agreed; 3% disagreed)

• Developing active participation in partnerships with other cultural and learning services (85% agreed; 4% disagreed)

Model of excellence

Finalising the policy

• 625 responses received (82% from UK; 68% personal; 26% organisations and 6% from businesses)

• 61 detailed amendments were made to the text• First recommendation was widely misinterpreted and

much less strongly supported, so we amended it to:• “Bigger, better and more sustainable services”• Published in November 2009: different versions for

England & Wales with different case studies and ministerial introductions but the same policy content

Archives for 21st century – in action, April 2010

• Policy is about objectives not actions

• “New burdens” doctrine means Government cannot mandate actions it cannot fund

• Action Plan to set out what we would do and wanted others to do

• Implementation Board to advise on content and tone of action plan

• Action Plan issued April 2010, just before General Election

Then the Government changed…

New responsibilities for TNA

Adapting to sector leadership role

• Detailed review of structure and services of my team to embed new responsibilities and funding, February-July 2011

• Extensive programme of communications with sector to ensure everyone understood what was happening and why

• Appointment of Transition Manager to support us through 12 months of change and development and migrate resources, and knowledge from MLA

• Published commitments to the sector about our activities as sector leader and our working style, August 2011

• Transfer of functions from MLA , 1 October 2011

• Commitment to update Archives for 21st century – in action

Our commitments to the sector

• Monitor, communicate and respond to policy initiatives across Government

• Ensure that we understand the issues facing the archives sector, and brief Ministers and those developing policy across Government accordingly

• Undertake or commission research and evidence-gathering to support advocacy on behalf of the sector

• Develop programmes and initiatives to create new opportunities for archives

• Stimulate collection management and development and improved resource discovery to make archives more accessible to the public

• Encourage public engagement with archives through widening participation and increased volunteering

• Develop an accreditation scheme for archive services that supports their improvement journey and enhances sustainability

Our commitments to the sector (2)• Enhance our advice and guidance to the sector• Provide every major collecting institution in England and Wales with a named

contact point at The National Archives• Develop and maintain a relationship of strategic influence with key national, home

nation and regional organisations that shape the context in which archive services are provided

• Focus our work with the wider archive sector in one team at The National Archives but commit the whole organisation to support of our leadership role for the sector.

• Consult and engage continuously across the sector• Act as a critical friend for archive services and their parent bodies, offering advice

and guidance, support and challenge• Use all the tools at our disposal to achieve outcomes that are in the best interests

of archival records and their users• Be a benefit not a burden to the sector, and provide regular opportunities for

feedback from all those with an interest in our work

Archives for the 21st century in action – refreshed

• Updated Action Plan for remaining years of Policy (2012-15)

• Reflecting the clearer leadership remit of TNA

• Responding for the major reductions in public funding, which have affected local authority archives – the core of the network – in particular

Built to last – developing sustainable services

Actions for TNA•Identify innovative models of service delivery•Ensure archives are firmly positioned as a core part of the cultural sector•Build networks of archives practitioners•Enhance the knowledge base of the sector•Plan for the implementation of a 20-year rule•Identify new funding streams•Use archive service accreditation to advocate for investment.

An effective, skilled workforce

Actions for TNA•Demonstrate good practice by investing in its staff and volunteers

•Run the “Opening Up Archives” traineeship programme

•Review the skills needs of the sector

•Sponsor two postgraduate trainees

•Support services in developing volunteering in archives

Digital by design

Actions for TNA•Continue to innovate and develop solutions

•Promote the contribution that digital continuity and preservation makes to wider organisational goals

•Make training and guidance available online and share good practice across the sector

•Explore the potential for archiving websites using models adapted from a pilot run in 2011-12

More accessible online

Actions for TNA•Complete commercial digitisation consortium project with ARA•Provide support and guidance on amended EU Directive on re-use of public sector information•Extend TNA’s resource discovery infrastructure to provide single point of online access to catalogue and name authority data from across archive sector•Extend Cataloguing Grants Scheme for further 5 years•Complete Manorial Documents Register revision

Real outcomes through partnership

Actions for TNA•Demonstrate the social, economic and educational impact of archives

•Collate and disseminate case studies of good practice across the sector in collections management, outreach and learning

•Develop stronger relationships at national and regional level with government, cultural organisations and funders

What has been achieved?

• Despite drastic cuts in budgets (especially in local government), the national network of archival provision remains intact and new archive buildings continue to be built

• Archive Service Accreditation has been developed as a UK-wide scheme with general approval from sector and is now being rolled out: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/archive-service-accreditation.htm

• New programme initiatives developed for sector:• Digitisation consortium• Digital Preservation requirements definition• Diversification of funding • Diversity of workforce

What has been achieved?

• Wide range of new guidance and case studies of best practice available on our website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/learning.htm

• Support in accessing new funding streams:• Diversifying funding• Collecting Cultures• Strategic Commissioning programmes• Arts Council “Creative Media” funding and “Grants for the Arts”• Cataloguing Grants Scheme extended

• Work to reduce burden associated with transfer of public records alongside reduction of transfer period to 20 years

What has been achieved?

• Archiving the Arts project to focus strategic collecting activity in an area of need

• TNA Discovery infrastructure being extended into a national union catalogue of archives and manuscripts: http://beta.discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

• Increasing focus on partnerships in service delivery:• The Keep: http://www.thekeep.info/about_us/building/• Manchester and London borough service partnerships• South-East Midlands project• Devon and Somerset Heritage Trust

Where next? Looking ahead 2015-2020

• During 2014 we expect to draft strategy for the next five years• Anticipate launching in autumn 2015, after the next general election• Key themes of sustainability, digital records and online delivery

unlikely to change • Likely to promote archival role in transparency and accountability

more strongly • Will be more explicitly inclusive of private archives than current

document, and reflect particular challenges of areas such as business, religious and charity archives

• Likely to have an enhanced focus on partnership working for efficiency, reach and co-ordination

• Likely to build on creation of Discovery infrastructure

So here we are...