Developing and Re-developing the Code of Practice on Records Management under Section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Abstract

The records management Code of practice under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act broke new ground. It was the first time that an official statement of recommended good practice in records management had been issued to the public sector as a whole. In this article, the author explains the origins of the Code and how it was originally developed, and describes recent re-development of the Code, including both the process and the contents of the new Code. In the course of this narrative, she touches on some of the issues that arose along the way, some of which are of continuing relevance.