Is the Freedom of
Information Act driving
records management in
further education
colleges?
Sheila Edward and
Julie McLeod
1 Background
The Freedom of Information Act (2000), which
comes into force in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland in January 2005, has
considerable implications for records
management in the public sector. Like many
other organisations, further education colleges
need to be ready to handle queries received in
any recordable format from any source; to
understand exceptions within the Act that may
allow them to refuse to supply information; and
to be equipped to respond within 20 working
days. While there has always been a strong
business case for efficient and effective records
management in the sector, based on quality,
cost-effectiveness, the frequency of audit, and
the role of student records in securing funding
from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC),
the advent of the Freedom of Information (FoI)
legislation reinforces the need for colleges to
manage all their records well.
In 2002, the Joint Information Systems
Committee (JISC) published on its Web site a
``Model action plan for achieving compliance
with the Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice on
the management of records for higher and
further education organisations'' (JISC, 2002a).
In outline, it seeks to introduce managers to the
implications of the Act for their institutions,
providing an action plan, a model records
management policy, competencies framework,
glossary of terminology and list of sources of
guidance. An introduction added in July 2003
updates information, announcing the
appointment of a records management
consultant based at JISC InfoNet, and
information about research funded by JISC in
their national programme, ``Supporting
institutional records management'' (JISC,
2002b).
The project described here, ``Developing
records management in further education:
responding to the requirements of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000'', was funded under
Theme 2 of that JISC national programme. The
full report is also available (McLeod and
Edward, 2003). The two-person team from the
Information Management Research Institute
(IMRI) at Northumbria University sought to
investigate and support the development of
records management and support the process of
The authors
Sheila Edward is an Educational Researcher at the
Information Management Research Institute, and
Julie McLeod is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Informatics,
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Keywords
Freedom of information, Records management,
Further education, United Kingdom
Abstract
This article presents key findings from a JISC-funded
research project ``Developing records management in further
education: responding to the requirements of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000'', considering issues raised in a
study of 15 colleges in northern England in 2003. It
highlights difficulties of raising awareness of records
management in this context; the value of the ``Model action
plan for achieving compliance with the Lord Chancellor's
Code of Practice on the management of records in higher
and further education institutions''; and barriers to be
overcome in institutions where the appointment of a
professional records manager is not a possibility. It considers
whether preparations for FoI have had an impact on records
management in this sector, and whether this is likely to
continue or increase in future, after the Act comes into force
in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in January 2005.
Electronic access
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40
Records Management Journal
Volume 14
.
Number 1
.
2004
.
pp. 40-50
# Emerald Group Publishing Limited
.
ISSN 0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565690410528938