Public Records (Jersey) Law 2002: report of the Jersey Heritage Trust and the States Archivist during 2012

STATES OF JERSEY

PUBLIC RECORDS (JERSEY) LAW 2002: REPORT OF THE JERSEY HERITAGE TRUST AND THE STATES ARCHIVIST DURING 2012

Presented to the States on 2nd October 2013 by the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture

STATES GREFFE

2013   Price code: C  R.124

2012  Annual  Report  on  the  work  of Jersey Heritage and the Archivist under the Public Records (Jersey) Law 2002.

Introduction  

In 2012 Jersey Heritage continued to provide a high quality archive service for the States of Jersey, the people of Jersey and the many individuals across the world who have an interest in the unique culture and history of the Island. The numbers of collections deposited, items catalogued, visitors to the Archive and enquiries answered all increased when compared to 2011.

The Archive's profile was raised through the use of local and social media. A wide range of visitors came to the Archive through the year, from local individuals using the service as a source of evidence of government actions, to visitors from around the world who use the Archive to research their family trees. This shows that the work done at Jersey Archive has both a local and international significance.

Archives play a vital role as impartial guardians of the evidence of actions and decisions of public bodies, communities and individuals. They help us to understand the past and plan for the future, acting as repositories for the individual and collective memory of our community.

The following Universal Declaration on Archives, published by the International Council on Archives was endorsed by UNESCO in October 2012.

Archives record decisions, actions and memories. Archives are a unique and irreplaceable heritage passed from one generation to another. Archives are managed to preserve their value and meaning. They are authoritative sources of information underpinning  accountable and  transparent administrative actions. They play an  essential role in the development of societies by safeguarding and  contributing to individual and community  memory. Open access to archives enriches our  knowledge of human society, promotes democracy, protects citizen's rights and enhances the quality of life.

The importance of archives as evidence and their role in supporting accountable and transparent government will be highlighted with the forthcoming implementation of Freedom of Information legislation.

Freedom of Information will have a major impact on the work of Jersey Archive. Increased transfers of material will lead to larger cataloguing backlogs and physical storage issues. Records Management support for Public Bodies will need to be increased. Additional enquiries will need to be answered by archive staff and opening hours should be increased in line with the ethos of public access to information.

Jersey Archive and indeed the entire global archive community, also faces the challenges raised by the preservation of digital records. Archives can now appear as e- mails, websites, digital files, social media and even text messages. It is vital that we work to preserve these records if we do not wish our legacy to be an information black hole from the start of the 21st Century.

Archival Public Records

In 2012, 66 new collections from official bodies were transferred to the Jersey Archive under the Law. These collections contained nearly 14,000 individual items - an increase of 180% on the items transferred in 2011.

This significant increase seems to indicate that official bodies are starting to prepare for Freedom of Information implementation by looking through their current and semi- current material and transferring appropriate records to Jersey Archive.

All new collections have been accessioned, assessed by the Archive Conservator and placed in the strongrooms at the Jersey Archive to await cataloguing.

Collections transferred in 2012 include records from the Jersey Employment Tribunal, additional deposits from the Parishes of Grouville and St Lawrence, records from the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service, material from the States Greffe and Chief Minister's Department, school registers, Customs and Immigration case files, Economic Development business plans and reports and material from Social Security.

This significant increase in items transferred has led to 30 cubic meters of records being moved from public bodies to the Jersey Archive in 2012. With implementation of Freedom of Information gathering pace in 2013 and 2014 transfers of more modern material to Jersey Archive will continue and space in the repository will become a significant issue.

If transfers continue at the average rate from the past five years the Jersey Archive repository will be full by the beginning of 2019. An initial capital project bid for a new storage block at Jersey Archive has been submitted to ESC for consideration.

Additional storage space at the Archive could have the added benefit of providing much need storage for semi-current records belonging to public institutions. Semi-current records are those files that do not have long-term archival value but need to be kept by law for a certain period of time. Many public institutions currently either store these files in valuable office space or commercial off-site storage.

Please see appendix A for a full list of public records accessioned in 2012.

Cataloguing and Preservation

The Jersey Archive currently holds over 310,000 public records, 64% of which are catalogued and accessible for members of the public to research. The remaining 36% are waiting to be catalogued before they can be made available to the public. With current staffing levels this represents 28.3-year cataloguing backlog (excluding digital material) which has increased from 25.9 years at the end of 2011.

In 2012 staff at the archive focused on increasing the number of items catalogued. 9,029 new items were catalogued during the year compared to the 7,473 items catalogued in 2011. This represents an increase of 21% in items catalogued over the course of the year.

This significant increase can largely be put down to an intern employed by Jersey Heritage in the Summer months of 2012, the assistance of a small number of volunteers with specific skills who have been working at Jersey Archive and individuals working at the Jersey Archive as part of the Social Security Advance to Work scheme.

Public  records  currently  held  at  the  Jersey  Archive  are  kept  in  an  environmentally controlled secure strongroom that is monitored for temperature and humidity by the Conservator on a daily basis. In 2012 the Conservator spent 348 hours ensuring that all public records arriving at the archive were cleaned and repackaged.

The Conservator is also responsible for a programme of conservation of badly damaged items. In 2012 32 items were conserved using in house resources and an external firm.

G/C/07/F/1 Copies of contracts from the public registry concerning St Clement's Church property and payments of rentes to the parish of St Clement.

Before and after conservation treatment.

The archive currently holds 586 items in an unusable condition that are in need of active conservation work and are currently unavailable to members of the public.  

Each year the Jersey Archive completes a stock take to ensure that public records are located correctly in the strongrooms and that none have been misplaced during the year. In 2012 approximately 50,000 records were checked in stocktaking week and were found to be in their correct locations.

Digital Records

In  2012  59,770  or 312GBs of digital files  were transferred to Jersey Archive. This includes a large digital deposit of 303GB of returns from the 1911 census of the Channel Islands. These files have been accessioned and are awaiting cataloguing.

The current calculation of cataloguing backlog at Jersey Archive is based on a physical measurement  of  records  that  are  waiting  to  be  catalogued.  As  the  Archive is now receiving an increasing number of digital files it is important to calculate a separate digital cataloguing backlog to give a true picture of the overall backlog at Jersey Archive.

By looking at the folders of digital records that have been transferred to the Archive we have calculated that each folder of records will take 2 hours to fully catalogue. As the Archive currently holds 1,315 folders of digital records our digital backlog equates to 2,630 man-hours – a backlog of 3.6 years with current staff resources.

Records Management

In 2012 the Archivist has continued to work with States administrations to ensure that retention schedules are put in place and signed off under the Law. The retention schedules list all records produced by a department and give recommendations for retention of records and eventual disposal either by confidential shredding or to the Jersey Archive.

In 2012 the Archivist appraised over 1,000 files and 3 retention schedules were put in place. 33 schedules have now been put in place for public institutions over the past five years. The continuation of this work will be a vital part of the States of Jersey preparation for Freedom of Information Legislation.

Records Advisory Panel  

The Records Advisory Panel met on four occasions in 2012. The Archivist wishes to thank the members of the Records Advisory Panel and the staff at Jersey Heritage for their support throughout the year.

Closed Records

Under the Public Records Law any information produced by a public body is closed to public access for 30 years unless it has been previously available, e.g. published reports. The Records Advisory Panel, appointed under the Law, has the ability to approve recommendations from the Archivist for longer closure periods on records of a sensitive nature, e.g. Children's Services or Hospital records.

In 2012 the Archivist reviewed 227 files of public records that, after closure periods of 30, 75 and 100 years, were due to be opened to public access. After review and consultation with the public bodies that created the records the Archivist recommended that 210 files be opened to public access and 17 files should be closed for longer periods of time.

The additional closures were made under Part 5, Article (a) of the Public Records Law – Unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual. The Records Advisory Panel agreed these recommendations at their meetings in March and December 2012.

Records opened included Repatriation Files from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor concerning repatriations of citizens to the Island. When Islanders travelled abroad and found themselves in financial difficulty they would call upon the local British Consul for assistance. The British Consul would then write to the Lieutenant Governor asking if the local authorities were willing to help.

Islanders left Jersey and needed to apply for repatriation assistance from the Parish for all sorts of reasons. In 1899 Joseph Renault joined up with a circus that was due to travel around France. Unfortunately the circus, run by an Englishman called Randall, did not succeed and Renault was discharged without money or any means to return home.

Similarly the following year William Charles Cummins, went to France with a travelling circus and when leaving was forced to ask for assistance to return to the Island from St Malo. In both cases the parish agreed to pay their fare home.

Public Access to Records

In 2012 the Jersey Archive was open to the public on 162 days of the year and 3,639 readers made use of the facilities – an increase of 4% on visits in 2011. The Archive also provides access to public records through its online catalogue and enquiries service. In 2012 staff answered 1,951 written enquiries and responded to 1,484 telephone calls.

The Jersey Archive resources are used by States Departments, States Members, law firms, construction professionals and by members of the  public  worldwide. In 2012 enquiries and research visits to the Archive covered areas such as; house history, family history, the German Occupation, court records, deed polls, traffic, music in Jersey, Acts of the States, shipwrecks, railways, road administration, the land registry, churches and parks and gardens.

The Archive continues to be used by members of the public of all ages from students to those who are retired. In 2012 staff talked to school groups from Victoria College Preparatory School and worked with Les Quennevais Year 8 students to produce the Les Quennevais Family Tree exhibition held at the Archive.

The Archive's Saturday morning programme of talks, sponsored by Appleby, continued in 2012. The What's Your Street's Story project focused on different areas of the community and encouraged members of the public to learn more about their Island. The programme proved to be extremely popular with nearly three times more people visiting the Archive on open Saturdays than on an average weekday.

In 2012 Archive Staff told hundreds of Islanders the stories of Rozel Bay, Six Rues, St Lawrence, Five Oaks, St Peter's Village, FB Fields, Springfield, Gorey Common, St Brelade's Bay and Bath Street.

Bath Street, Jersey

The need for increased public access to the records at the Jersey Archive has been highlighted in previous annual reports to the States. The findings of the National Archive assessment of 2008 and the Public Services Quality Forum (PSQG) questionnaire to Archive readers in October 2012 have both shown that the Archive needs to improve in this area to meet national standards and public expectation.

The PSQG questionnaire, which was carried out in October 2012, asked users of the archive a number of questions about the archive service currently provided and areas for improvement. 64% of readers felt that opening hours at the Archive should be improved with 30% of readers indicating that current opening hours were poor.

In contrast to the negative comments made around opening hours 98% of readers placed the Jersey Archive in the very good or good categories for overall service. 100% of readers felt that staff were helpful and friendly.

This archive provides an excellent service with excellent staff. However accessibility during the week is severely limited and this needs to be addressed.'

PSQG Response, October 2012

Access and outreach services are the area in which the Archive scores the lowest in The National Archive self-assessment process with a score of 58.5% in 2010 (the self- assessment did not take place in 2012). This is an area for concern that might prevent the Archive receiving accredited status under the new National Archive scheme.

Volunteers

The National Archives publication, Archives for the 21st Century, highlights the importance of archives as institutions that promote a sense of place, community and social inclusion. These values are particularly evident in the volunteer schemes in place at Jersey Archive.

Volunteers come to the Archive with a variety of backgrounds including students at local schools, retired individuals with specific skills that can benefit the archive, individuals interested in training as heritage professionals and those who see volunteering at the archive as an opportunity to combine a sociable activity with an area in which they have a specific interest.

In 2012 Jersey Archive also worked with two volunteers who came to the Archive via the Social Security Advance to Work Scheme.

Jersey Archive also has an important partnership with the Channel Islands Family History Society who provide volunteers to assist members of the public with their family history research on each day that the Archive is open.

In 2012 Jersey Archive benefitted from 2,697 volunteer hours – the equivalent of 72 weeks of full time work. During the course of the year 29 individuals volunteered at the Archive with a further 31 volunteers helping through the Channel Islands Family History Society.

2013

In 2013 the archive team will continue to preserve, catalogue and provide access to the records that we hold at Jersey Archive. Outreach projects, such as What's Your Street's Story, will continue through the year and we hope to encourage more and more individuals to become involved with their archive.

In 2013 we intend to upgrade our online offering with digital records being made available for the first time to members of the public around the world. This initiative will increase our global community of archive users and promote the work of the archive and the history of Jersey outside of the Island.

The Archivist will continue to work with public bodies to prepare for Freedom of Information legislation.

The National Archive is aiming to produce a new Accreditation Standard for Archives in 2013. As soon as this scheme is in place the Jersey Archive plans to apply with the intention of becoming a fully accredited archive.

Conclusion  

For the Jersey Archive to fulfil its role as the guardian of Jersey's unique written cultural heritage it is vital that the issues raised by Public Records Legislation, Freedom of Information Legislation, the National Archive Accreditation Scheme and the rise of digital archives are addressed.

Storage space at the archive has become an increasingly important issue. Freedom of Information will lead to additional transfers of public records and it is projected that the current archive repository will be full by the beginning of 2019. It is vital that we look to increase our storage capacity by building an additional strongroom block, which will allow us to store the public records of the Island in a secure, well managed and environmentally monitored facility.

The issues of additional funding for Jersey Archive have been highlighted and are well documented in the report produced by Dr Norman James' of The National Archive in 2008. Dr James' concludes that

The archives service in Jersey is professionally run in line with best practice from purpose-built accommodation' which should provide an excellent platform for the

preservation of and access to Jersey's public records'.

However he finds that

 The service does not however have the staff resources needed to carry out the tasks allotted to it especially under the Public Records (Jersey) Law of 2002. Access to holdings is much poorer in terms of opening hours than in the UK or indeed comparable operations in the Isle of Man. Cataloguing backlogs are also growing and despite high commitment and morale of the staff there is a real danger that they will feel increasingly frustrated as time goes on. On present trends the scope of their tasks is likely to grow to unmanageable proportions thereby undermining morale.'

Dr  James recommended an  additional 3.5  FTE posts at Jersey Archive to start to resolve issues around opening hours, cataloguing backlogs and records management. These additional  posts would allow  the Archive to start  to  prepare  for Freedom of Information implementation and to fully meet our obligations under the Public Records Law. The proposition to the States on the Jersey Heritage Trust (P.75/2010) noted these unresolved issues.

Dr James' report is now 5 years old and whilst the fundamental issues that he raises in terms of staffing and the long-term sustainability of the service are unresolved it is important to highlight progress that has been made since 2008.

In 2007 the Jersey Archive first applied to The National Archive's self-assessment scheme and received an overall score of 66.5% and a rating as a two star service. By 2010 the service had improved to an overall score of 74.5% and was awarded the highest 4 star rating with the Archive building itself being scored in the top 10% of repositories in the country.

Linda Romeril, Archives and Collections Director Jersey Heritage

May 2013

Appendix A  

List of Public Records transferred to Jersey Archive in 2012