The National Archives

Since 2020 The National Archives (TNA) has shown a declining trend in performance in terms of the time limit for complying with information requests, despite the occasional quarterly improvement. This has been highlighted by recent figures showing a further fall that is not simply attributable to the pandemic. In many instances TNA has been unable to meet the statutory timeframe for responding to requests that relate wholly or partly to archived information. In 2022, according to the FOI statistics published on the GOV.UK website, there was a significant drop (below 60%) in compliance from previous highs of over 70% during the worst of the pandemic and well in excess of 90% in 2017 and 2018.

Following engagement by his staff with TNA about the underlying reasons for these failings, the Commissioner has reached the view that TNA’s request handling practices do not conform to Part 4 of the section 45 Freedom of Information Code of Practice, issued by the Cabinet Office in July 2018 (the Code).

Whilst the Commissioner has decided to make this practice recommendation, he wants to acknowledge the very real constraints that TNA has been operating under in the last few years. TNA is obliged to consult with whichever is the ‘responsible authority’ for a record that has been transferred. This can result in delays in such matters as carrying out the public interest test when the exemption is qualified. TNA (and not the authority consulted) has the duty to comply, but their performance is affected by the timeliness (or lack thereof) of the bodies it is required to consult with.

The Commissioner recognises that TNA is also facing a very specific challenge following its agreement to take a significant number of military personnel files that are in the process of being transferred from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It is planned for these records to be transferred over six years, with around four million (of almost 10 million) records having been transferred so far. TNA describes this process as “the biggest and most complex transfer of public records in our history”. These records require preserving and storing safely to archival standards. The records are closed until 115 years after the individual service personnel’s date of birth. This material includes personal data (and special category data) which needs to be assessed as to whether it can be open or closed fully/in part. At the same time the records are subject to information requests which TNA projects will increase to 6000 in 2023, solely for this collection, effectively tripling the usual rate of requests TNA receives. The Commissioner is aware that the transfer of these records has seriously impacted on TNA’s ability to meet its statutory obligations under the FOIA and has taken this into account as part of his considerations.