SCHEDULES
C2FIRST SCHEDULE Definition of Public Records
1
The provisions of this Schedule shall have effect for determining what are public records for the purposes of this Act.
Departmental records
2
1
Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, administrative and departmental records belonging to Her Majesty, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, in right of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom and, in particular,—
a
records of, or held in, any department of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, or
b
records of any office, commission or other body or establishment whatsoever under Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom,
shall be public records.
2
Sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph shall not apply—
a
to records of any government department or body which is wholly or mainly concerned with Scottish affairs, or which carries on its activities wholly or mainly in Scotland, or
b
to registers or certified copies of entries in registers being registers or certified copies kept or deposited in the General Register Office under or in pursuance of any enactment, whether past or future, which provides for the registration of births, deaths, marriages or adoptions, or
c
except so far as provided by paragraph 4 of this Schedule, to records of the Duchy of Lancaster, or
d
to records of the office of the Public Trustee relating to individual trusts.
3
1
Without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (1) of the last foregoing paragraph, the administrative and departmental records of bodies and establishments set out in the Table at the end of this paragraph shall be public records, whether or not they are records belonging to Her Majesty.
2
The provisions of this paragraph shall not be taken as applying to records in any museum or gallery mentioned in the said Table which form part of its permanent collections (that is to say records which the museum or gallery has acquired otherwise than by transfer from or arrangements with a government department).
C1PART I | |
|---|---|
BODIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS UNDER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS | |
Responsible Government Department | |
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. | Agricultural Wages Board. Agricultural Wages Committees. Organisation known as the “National Farm Survey”. Official seed testing station for England and Wales. |
F3Ministry of Defence | Meteorological Office. |
F4. . . | F5. . . |
F6Department of Health | National Health Service Authorities F7including National Health Service Trusts other than local health authorities. F8Family Practitioner Committees F9National health service hospitalsF10health service hospitals, within the meaning of the National Health Service Act 1977 except— records of endowments passing to Boards of Governors under section seven of the National Health Service Act 1946. records relating to funds held by Hospital Boards and Committees under sections fifty-nine and sixty of the said Act, andrecords of private patients admitted under section five of the said Act. F11records of property passing to F12Regional, Area or District Health Authorities or special health authorities under sections 23 to 26 of the M7National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 F13or section 92 of the M8National Health Service Act 1977 records of property held by a F14Regional, Area or District Health Authority or special health authority under section 21 or 22 of the said Act 1973F15or section 90 or 91 of the National Health Service Act 1977 Welsh Board of Health. |
Home Office | Office of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Office of Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District. |
F16Department of Employment | National Dock Labour Board. National Institute of Houseworkers Limited. Wages Boards and Wages Councils. |
F17Department of Social Security | National Insurance Advisory Committee. Industrial Injuries Advisory Council. F18Attendance Allowance Board. National Insurance and Industrial Injuries Joint Authorities. Workmen’s Compensation Supplementation Board. Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Benefit Board. F19Occupational Pensions Board F20. . . |
F21Department of Transport | Air Transport Advisory Council. Air Registration Board. F22Airworthiness Requirements Board, Civil Aviation Authority. |
F23Lord Chancellor’s Department | F24Legal Aid Board |
X1C3PART IIOTHER ESTABLISHMENTS AND ORGANISATIONS
Anglo-Egyptian Resettlement Board.
F25Armouries
F26The Board of Trustees of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside.
F27British Coal Corporation
British Museum (including the Natural History Museum).
Catering Wages Commission.
Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation.
F28Commission on Industrial Relations
F29Countryside Council for Wales
F30Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations (before and after their reconstitution as a body corporate) except when acting for governments or authorities outside Her Majesty’s dominions.
F31Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board.
F32Curriculum Council for Wales
F33the Data Protection Registrar
Development Commission.
F34. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F35 Further Education Funding Council for England.
F35Further Education Funding Council for Wales.
F35Higher Education Funding Council for England.
F35Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.
F36Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England
Imperial War Museum.
Irish Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Land Trust.
F37The Legal Services Ombudsman
London Museum.
F38The Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct
F39. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F40Millennium Commission.
F41Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
F42National Audit Office
F43. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
National Gallery.
National Maritime Museum.
National Parks Commission.
National Portrait Gallery.
National Savings Committee.
F44Nature Conservancy Council for England
Office of F45the Director General of Fair Trading.
F46Post Office.
Remploy Limited.
F47Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Greenwich Observatory.
F32School Curriculum and Assessment Authority
F48Science Museum
Tate Gallery.
F49Traffic Director for London
F50. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trustee Savings Banks Inspection Committee.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
University Grants Committee.
F51Victoria and Albert Museum
Wallace Collection.
War Works Commission.
Any body established for the purpose of determining the boundaries of constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or of local authorities in England or Wales.
F13A
1
Her Majesty may by Order in Council amend the Table at the end of paragraph 3 of this Schedule by adding to either Part of the Table an entry relating to any body or establishment—
a
which, at the time when the Order is made, is specified in Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (departments, etc. subject to investigation), or
b
in respect of which an entry could, at that time, be added to Schedule 2 to that Act by an Order in Council under section 4 of that Act (which confers power to amend that Schedule).
2
An Order in Council under this paragraph may relate to a specified body or establishment or to bodies or establishments falling within a specified description.
3
An Order in Council under this paragraph shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
Records of courts and tribunals
4
1
Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, records of the following descriptions shall be public records for the purposes of this Act:—
a
records of, or held in any department of, the Supreme Court (including any court held under a commission of assize);
b
records of county courts and of any other superior or inferior court of record established since the passing of the M1County Courts Act 1846;
F2c
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
d
records of courts of quarter sessions:
e
records of magistrates’ courts;
f
records of coroners’ courts;
g
records of courts-martial held whether within or outside the United Kingdom by any of Her Majesty’s forces raised in the United Kingdom;
h
records of naval courts held whether within or outside the United Kingdom under the enactments relating to merchant shipping;
i
records of any court exercising jurisdiction held by Her Majesty within a country outside Her dominions;
j
records of any tribunal (by whatever name called)—
i
which has jurisdiction connected with any functions of a department of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom; or
ii
which has jurisdiction in proceedings to which such a government department is a party or to hear appeals from decisions of such a government department;
k
records of the Lands Tribunal or of any Rent Tribunal or Local Valuation Court;
l
records of the Industrial Court, of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, and of the National Arbitration Tribunal (which was replaced by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal);
m
n
o
records of such other courts or tribunals (by whatever name called) as the Lord Chancellor may by order contained in a statutory instrument specify.
2
This paragraph shall not apply to any court or tribunal whose jurisdiction extends only to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
3
In this paragraph “records” includes records of any proceedings in the court or tribunal in question and includes rolls, writs, books, decrees, bills, warrants and accounts of, or in the custody of, the court or tribunal in question.
Records of the Chancery of England
5
The records of the Chancery of England shall be public records for the purposes of this Act.
Records in Public Record Office
6
Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this Schedule, public records for the purposes of this Act shall include—
a
all records within the meaning of the M6Public Record Office Act 1838, or to which that Act was applied, which at the commencement of this Act are in the custody of the Master of the Rolls in pursuance of that Act, and
b
all records (within the meaning of the said Act or to which that Act was applied) which at the commencement of this Act are in the Public Record Office and, in pursuance of the said Act, under the charge and superintendence of the Master of the Rolls, and
c
all records forming part of the same series as any series of documents falling under sub-paragraph (a) or sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph.
Power to add further categories of records and to determine cases of doubt
7
1
Without prejudice to the Lord Chancellor’s power of making orders under paragraph 4 of this Schedule, Her Majesty may by Order in Council direct that any description of records not falling within the foregoing provisions of this Schedule shall be treated as public records for the purposes of this Act but no recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty in Council to make an Order under this sub-paragraph unless a draft of the Order has been laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
2
A question whether any records or description of records are public records for the purposes of this Act shall be referred to and determined by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chancellor shall include his decisions on such questions in his annual report to Parliament and shall from time to time compile and publish lists of the departments, bodies, establishments, courts and tribunals comprised in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Schedule and lists describing more particularly the categories of records which are, or are not, public records as defined in this Schedule.
Interpretation
8
It is hereby declared that any description of government department, court, tribunal or other body or establishment in this Schedule by reference to which a class of public records is framed extends to a government department, court, tribunal or other body or establishment, as the case may be, which has ceased to exist, whether before or after the passing of this Act.
Sch. 1 excluded by Transport Act 1968 (c. 73), s. 144(9)
Sch. 1 excluded (E.W.S.) (1.4.1994) by 1993 c. 43, s. 125(6); S.I. 1994/571, art. 5 (with art. 7) (which exclusion was repealed (18.7.1996) by 1996 c. 42, s. 8(2)(3))
Sch. 1 excluded (E.W.S.) (18.9.1996) by 1996 c. 42, ss. 5(3), 8(3)