§ The role
of the East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office is to
locate, acquire, collect and preserve archival material relating to
past and present life in the administrative county of East Sussex
and the City of Brighton and Hove, and to make that material
available to the public. It is based at The Keep, which is run in
partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council and the
University of Sussex.
§ The Keep is an Accredited
Archive service and conforms to guidelines set out in The National
Archives Accreditation Standard.
§ This policy is essential to
support the role and aims of East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Office, and explains why
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Officecollects archival material,
what it collects and how it does so. This policy takes into account
the recommendations of The National Archives for collections
development, and current government policy on archives.
1.
Name of Archive
Service
1.1.
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office.
2.
Relationship
with Brighton & Hove City Council and The Keep
Board
2.1.
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Officeis part of the Communities
Division of the Communities, Economy and Transport Department of
ESCC.
2.2.
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Officeprovides an archive service
to Brighton & Hove City Council, a unitary authority formed on
1 April 1997, under a Service Level Agreement dated August 2013,
which has a term of twenty (20) years.
2.3.
Relevant
policies and procedures are reviewed by representatives of the
three partners of The Keep – East Sussex County Council,
Brighton & Hove City Council and the University of Sussex
– at the Keep Management Team. Any changes affecting the
management of The Keep are approved by the Keep Board.
3.
Legislation
3.1
East
Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office holds the
archives of East Sussex and Brighton & Hove in line with the
following regulations:
3.1.1
S.224 of the
Local Government Act 1972, whereby East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Officefulfils East Sussex County
Council’s responsibility for making properarrangements for
documents belonging to or in its custody.
3.1.2
The Local
Government (Records) Act 1962 whereby East Sussex County Council
was constituted an ‘archive authority’ with powers to
make provisionfor the inspection and copyingof documents, to
prepare finding aids, publish records, hold exhibitions, stage
lectures, purchase and accept gifts and deposits of records
including those of other local authorities, and ‘do all such
things as appear to it necessary or expedient for enabling adequate
use to be made of records under its control’.
3.1.3
S.4(1) of the
Public Records Act 1958, whereby, as an appointed place of deposit,
East
Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office accepts the deposit of
defined categories of public recordof a local character on behalf
of the Lord Chancellor.
3.1.4
The Manorial
Document Rules of 1959 and the Tithe (Copies of Apportionment)
Rules of 1960, whereby East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Officeaccepts custody of,
respectively, manorial and tithedocuments under the charge and
superintendence of the Master of the Rolls.
3.1.5
In
addition,East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Office exercises the powers of
East Sussex County Council in respect of the recordsof Parish
Councils under s.226(1)(b), (4) and (5) of the Local Government Act
1972.
3.1.6
An instrument
dated 24 December 1954, as amended by further instrument dated 29
March 1974, whereby the Bishop of Chichester established a diocesan
record office at East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Office to serve as a place of
deposit for registers and records of ecclesiastical parishes
located within the administrative county of East Sussex and the
City of Brighton& Hove. Such records are currently held under
the provisions of the Parochial Registers and Records Measure
1978.
3.1.7
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office is committed to ensuring it
complies with the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR).
4.1
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office seeks to collect archives that
relate to any geographical part of the administrative county of
East Sussex and the unitary authority of Brighton & Hove as
constituted on 1 April 1997.
4.2
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office may consider accepting any archives
that record or illustrate the administration, life and development
of East Sussex or Brighton & Hove throughout
history.
4.3
In keeping with
good archival practice, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record
Office will aim not to split archives which contain elements
relating to other geographical areas. However, we will only accept
such archives when the majority of papers relate to East Sussex or
Brighton & Hove.
4.4
There are
certain classes of records that East Sussex and Brighton and Hove
Record Office will not consider taking unless there are
extraordinary reasons for their acceptance. These include personal
papers which are mainly research notes; collections of appointments
of office diaries; low-level accounting records including receipt
and account books, especially where audited annual accounts exist;
and archives in any format where the depositor wishes to impose a
lengthy closure period for reasons other than Data Protection. We
will also not accept Oral History recordings unless we consider
them to be of significant historical value and they have been
recorded and documented in line with Oral History Society
guidance.
4.5
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office’s collecting focus is the
statutory records of Local Authorities and parishes. As such, we
will only consider accepting collections from external sources if
they are of historical or cultural value. Material offered that
comes from funded projects will be considered provided the cost of
East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office time to catalogue
and preserve the material, including packaging and/or processing
costs, has been included in the project funding bid.
5
Acquisition of
Archives
5.1
Archival
material passes into the custody of East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Officein a number of
ways.
5.1.1
East Sussex
County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council.
5.1.2
Central
Government under the Public Records Act and other statutes (see
paragraph 3.1.3-3.1.5 above).
5.1.3
The established
church under the Parochial Registers and Records Measure (see
paragraph 3.1.6 above).
5.1.4
District and
Parish Councils and statutory bodies such as water authorities, the
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner and East Sussex Fire
Authority.
5.1.5
Organisations,
businesses, or individuals (subject to 4.5 above).
5.1.6
More
information regarding the make up of existing holdings can be found
in the Collections Information Statement.
5.2
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office will not accept unsolicited
deposits of archive material. Accessions will only be accepted by
prior arrangement and following an assessment of the material being
offered, in accordance with this policy and related documents. All
potential depositors should read the information available and then
contact EBHRO@eastsussex.gov.uk
in the first instance.
5.3
When accepting
archives, East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Office will establish ownership of
the material and anyseparate intellectual propertyrights. We will
also agree restrictions on access arising from legislation or the
wishes of the donor/depositor. We will encourage people to donate
their records to East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office
rather than depositing. We will adhere to the guidelines for
dealing with new accessions set out in the Collections Information
Statement.
5.4
The acquisition
of non-statutory deposits will only be considered if records are
first appraised as having archival value by an archivist, and will
be subject to East Sussex and Brighton
and Hove Record Office having sufficient resources available to
catalogue, care for, store, and make accessible the
records.
5.5
All depositors
of large or complex accessions that are accepted are encouraged to
provide an item or box list at the time of transfer. East Sussex
and Brighton and Hove Record Office reserves the right to refuse
the acquisision of such collections without finding aids if they
would otherwise be inaccessible and difficult to
catalogue.
5.6
Depositors of
accessions of any size must remove supplementary material from the
records (such as, but not limited to, plastic wallets) that will
increase the time required for cataloguing to take place. East
Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office reserves the right to
return records transferred to the Record Office if such
supplementary items are not removed before transfer.
5.7
Areement to
take records (physical or digital) may be subject to charges for
cataloguing, preservation, processing, packaging and
storage.
5.8
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office continues a policy of purchasing
archives to place or keep them in the public domain. Such purchases
are funded entirely from external grants and external funding,
particularly from the Friends of The Keep Archive (FoTKA). East
Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office reserves the right to
make the final decision on the acceptance of purchases.
5.9
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office will appraise and assess archive
holdings in accordance with this and related documents before,
during and after acquisition.
6.1. East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office will consider accepting archives in
a wide range of formats including paper, parchment, digital
(including digital audio-visual material), microform, and visual
media (including photographs, glass negatives, slides and
transparencies).
6.2. Format and
transfer of digital records with be discussed with depositors prior
to acceptance. See the East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record
Office Digital Preservation Policy.
6.3. East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office does not accept archive film (for
example reel-to-reel, cinefilm) forming part of a donation or
deposit. We will not accept material on VHS, DVD or CD if we cannot
extract the data or provide access to it.
6.4. Books, newspapers,
pamphlets and journals will be added to the reference collection at
The Keep if they form part of an existing archive or are considered
to have enough local relevance.
6.5. East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office will consider accepting copies of
documents held in other repositories if they relate closely to its
existing holdings and are otherwise not readily
accessible.
6.6. Museum objects
and artefacts will not normally be accepted. Potential depositors
should instead contact an appropriate museum service. Artefacts
which form part of an archive, such as elements of uniforms, may be
accepted. Textiles will generally not be accepted.
6.7. East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office may accept artistic material under
two circumstances: when it forms part of an artist’s archive,
or when it forms a record of now-vanished elements of the
landscape. East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office will
never compete with galleries or museums to acquire such
material.
6.8. Archives offered
to East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office in poor physical
condition are unlikely to be accepted unless the donor/depositor
agrees to cover the costs of conservation, to be agreed on a
case-by-case basis, and only if resources are available to carry
out the conservation work.
7.1
Current
strengths
7.1.1
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office has an excellent relationship with
the East Sussex County Council Record Centre (for modern records)
and a well-established, streamlined process for transfer of records
of archival value at the end of their retention period.
7.1.2
East Sussex
County Council has embedded a detailed retention schedule for the
management of these records, and has a robust process for approval
of changes to this retention schedule.
7.1.3
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office works with ESCC departments to
update the retention schedule where records that are appraised as
not having archival value are being regularly offered to the
archive.
7.1.4
The Record
Office has established relationships with District, Borough and
Parish Councils to increase the transfer of statutory records from
these organisations.
7.1.5
Archivists have
worked with the East Sussex County Council Childrens Services
department to increase awareness of and deposits to the archive
service amongst Secondary Schools.
7.1.6
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office has developed clear processes for
accepting and accessioning offers of non-statutory records within
the resources available, including supporting community projects
that work to develop collections and collections information within
the scope of the Collections Development Policy.
7.1.7
The Record
office has established relationships with several local community
organisations in support of 7.1.6 above.
7.1.8
The Keep Public
Engagement Group produces an annual Communications and Engagement
plan to ensure that engagement activity is carried out making best
use of available resources.
7.1.9
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office has an established volunteer
programme enabling further community engagement with the sector,
and collections development activity.
7.1.10
The Record
Office is responsive to The National Archive in its capacity as a
Place of Deposit for public records, and has an established process
for regular transfer of Coroner’s Records from East Sussex
and Brighton & Hove to the archive.
7.1.11
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office does not have a cataloguing
backlog. Less than 1% of the archive’s holdings (current
accessions) are unlisted.
7.2
Areas for
development
7.2.1
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office will develop and implement an
internal communications programme to increase awareness of what
records the archive holds on behalf of Council departments, and how
these can be a useful resource for wider Council staff.
7.2.2
The Record
Office will continue to work with District, Borough and Parish
Councils to ensure regular transfers of records that are made
accessible to the public (subject to relevant
legislation).
7.2.3
The Record
Office will continue to address representation of, and support
improvements to existing catalogues of marginalised and
underrepresented communities through its accessions policy and
project work.
7.2.4
East Sussex and
Brighton and Hove Record Office has acquired Preservica for digital
preservation and will continue to increase the assets held on the
system, making them accessible via the online Universal Access
platform where practicable.
7.2.5
The Record
Office will continue to improve access to collections through
cataloguing new accessions in a timely manner, improving finding
aids for customers, enabling access to records no longer in
copyright, and improving access to unorderable items through its
Conservation Development Plan.
7.2.6
Senior staff
from the East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office will
continue to attend local, regional and national groups and meetings
to keep up to date on the developing Mayoral Combined Authority for
Sussex, and on plans for Local Government Reorganisation, and their
potential impact on the archive.
