A pdf version of these retention guidelines, including full version history, is held in the EDRM Records Management guidance notes folder.
See an explanation of the 6+ Rule and all other standard disposition codes.
Preparing business
MA 2.1.1: Preparing business for strategic consideration and making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Disposition: Permanent. Offer to Derbyshire Record Office
Example(s):
- Minutes of Corporate Management Team, Corporate Governance Group, Information Governance Group
Rationale: Common Practice
MA 2.1.2: Preparing business for cross-departmental consideration and making a record of discussion, debate, and resolution
Disposition: Destroy 3 years from last amendment
Example(s):
- Management minutes
- Action plans
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.1.3: Preparing business for unit / team consideration and making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Includes minutes of any meeting not specifically governed elsewhere in the retention schedules. (For example: excludes health and safety meeting minutes - see MA 2.1.5)
Do not destroy minutes created by the Children's Services department until IICSA has given permission.
Excludes Health and Safety meeting minutes (see 2.1.5)
In all other cases:
Disposition: Destroy 3 years from last amendment
Example(s):
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.1.4: Providing support for chief officers
Disposition: Review 6 years from closure
Example(s):
Rationale: Common Practice
MA 2.1.5: Deciding matters of health and safety within a unit / team and making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Disposition: Destroy 7 years from last amendment
Example(s):
- Health and safety meeting minutes
Rationale: Health and Safety at Work etc Act Section 2(3)
MA 2.1.6: Fulfilling a statutory obligation to engage with the public to discuss matters of community interest, and making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Disposition: Destroy 10 years from last amendment
If another retention period is required (e.g. by legislation), consult the Corporate Records Manager to ensure that this period is adequately reflected in the council’s retention schedules. If the record reflects activities that have resulted in significant changes to council policy or strategy, Offer to Derbyshire Record Office – see MA 2.3.2.
Example(s):
Rationale: Business requirement
MA 2.1.7: The non-statutory process of engaging with the public to discuss matters of community interest, and making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Disposition: Review 10 years from last amendment then destroy or offer to Derbyshire Record Office if of enduring historic interest
Example(s):
- Black and Minority Ethnic Forum meeting minutes
Rationale: Business need
MA 2.1.8: Deciding matters of staff welfare and making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Disposition: Review 7 years from last amendment then destroy or offer to Derbyshire Record Office if of enduring historic interest
Example(s):
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees group meeting minutes
Rationale: Business need
MA 2.1.9: Deciding matters in partnership with external bodies, where Derbyshire County Council bears the duty of making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Disposition: Destroy 10 years from last amendment
Example(s):
- Derbyshire Partnership Forum meeting minutes and associated records
Rationale: Business need
If partnership agreement requires another retention period, consult the Corporate Records Manager to ensure that this period is adequately reflected in the council’s retention schedules. For Information sharing agreements, see MA 2.4.4
MA 2.1.10: Deciding matters in partnership with external bodies, where a partner organisation bears the duty of making a record of discussion, debate and resolution
Disposition: Destroy 3 years from last amendment
Example(s):
- Partnership meeting minutes
Rationale: Business need
MA 2.1.11: Assessing and registering corporately-owned or high-level departmental risks, and making a record of actions taken to manage them
Disposition: Permanent. Offer to Derbyshire Record Office when no longer current
Example(s):
- Information asset registers
- Risk assessments
- Risk treatment plans
Rationale: Business need
For risks managed by a specific service, section or project team, retain in line with associated records, for example, if for risks managed as part of a significant organisational project, see MA 2.3.7
Statutory returns
MA 2.2.1: Preparing information to be passed onto central government as part of statutory requirements
Disposition: Destroy 7 years from last amendment
Example(s):
- Reports to central government
Rationale: Common practice
Policy, procedures, strategy and structure
MA 2.3.1: Number not used
MA 2.3.2: Activities that develop policies, procedures, strategies and structures
Disposition: Permanent. Offer to Derbyshire Record Office
Example(s):
Policy
- Organisational charts
- Development plans
Rationale: Common practice
Where multiple versions of policies and procedures are available, select significant revisions, illustrative of the evolution and implementation of council policy.
MA 2.3.3: Monitoring and reviewing strategic plans, policies, or procedures to assess their compliance with guidelines
Disposition: Destroy 6 years from end of administrative use
Example(s):
- Reports of working groups
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.3.4: Consulting the public and staff in the development of significant policies
Disposition: Destroy 6 years from end of administrative use
Example(s):
Rationale: Common practice
See also Policy and Research, POL 2.1
MA 2.3.5: Consulting the public and staff in the development of minor policies
Disposition: Destroy 1 year from end of administrative use
Example(s):
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.3.6: Undertaking investigations into the redesign of services
Disposition: Destroy 6 years from closure of record
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.3.7: Managing significant organisational projects
Disposition: Destroy 6 years from end of project
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.3.8: Managing organisational accreditations
Disposition: 6 years from end of accreditation
Example(s):
- Monitoring
- Compliance checks
Rationale: Common practice
Information management
MA 2.4.1: The process that records the disposal of records
Disposition: Destroy 12 years from last action
Example(s):
Rationale: Common Practice
MA 2.4.2: The process that records routine access to information requests
Disposition: Destroy 3 years from closure
An access to information file is closed when legal requirements are met, e.g. full reply sent
Example(s):
Rationale: Common practice
Within Children's Services, data subject access requests (SARs) are treated as an integral part of the individual's case file. See the Children's Services retention schedule (RS/C/CHILD/2).
MA 2.4.3: Number not used
MA 2.4.4: Managing privacy within systems
Disposition: Destroy 7 years from cessation of the system or process
Example(s):
- Privacy impact assessments
- Privacy notices
- Information sharing agreements (triggered by cessation of system or process)
- Photograph consent forms (public events etc., triggered by end of event)
Rationale: Limitation Act, 1980
MA 2.4.5: Routine administration of records retention
Disposition: Destroy 7 years from closure
Example(s):
- Records management enquiries and replies
- Draft retention schedules
Rationale: Limitation Act, 1980
MA 2.4.6: Finalising records retention policy
Disposition: Permanent. Offer to Derbyshire Record Office.
Example(s):
- Approved retention schedules
Rationale: Common practice (sampling advisable)
MA 2.4.7: The process that handles data in transit to a council-approved record keeping system, or transit to final deletion
Destroy immediately after transfer of information.
Triggered by:
- closure of hard copy transient record (for example notebook, signing-in sheet)
- transfer of information / file into a case management system
- transfer of file into electronic document / record management system
- transfer of file into shared network drive
- alteration of a web page
- final removal of a web page
- expiry of an automated waiting period imposed for disaster recovery, business continuity or data security reasons
Examples of automated waiting periods include:
- 2-week rolling destruction programme on datasets shared by external agencies in the interests of community safety. Subjects include: modern slavery, child sexual exploitation, organised crime, prevention of terrorism.
- 30-day rolling destruction programme on telephone call recordings handled in a contact centre (telephone recordings may also be retained for training and quality control purposes - see Contact Centre retention schedule).
- 30-day rolling destruction programme on audio recordings of meetings produced to allow for verbatim transcription.
- 60 day rolling deletion of web content not modified within previous 12 months
- 30-day rolling destruction of deleted web content in the contents management system (CMS)
- 4-month destruction on domestic abuse notifications made to Children's Services.
- 6-month rolling destruction programme on operational data and system backups used in maintenance of ICT infrastructure.
- 6-month rolling destruction programme on user-deleted documents in the Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRM) system.
- 6-month rolling destruction programme on the personal workspaces of former employees, temporarily held in the EDRM system for review by line managers.
- 1 year manual destruction of working documents to do with emergency planning, after their transfer to a final record.
- 2-month rolling destruction of interface files used in personnel record keeping, where the source and target systems hold a full record in accordance with the HR retention schedule
- 2-month rolling destruction of interface files used in financial record keeping (excluding Adult Care and Fostering), where the source and target systems hold a full record in accordance with the finance retention schedule
- 18-month rolling destruction of interface files used in financial record keeping (Adult Care and Fostering), where the target system holds a full record in accordance with the finance retention schedule
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.4.8: Initiating, authorising and finalising changes to core finance, procurement and human resources records
Disposal: Destroy 6 years from end of financial year
Examples:
Rationale: Limitation Act 1980
Enquiries, complaints and communications
MA 2.5.1: The management in summary form of enquiries and complaints
Disposition: Permanent. Offer to Derbyshire Record Office
Example(s):
- Register of comments (see also MA 2.5.3)
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.5.2: The management of enquiries, submissions and complaints which result in significant changes to policy or procedures
Disposition: Permanent. Offer to Derbyshire Record Office.
Example(s):
- Letters of complaint (if resulting in major policy changes)
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.5.3: The management of enquiries, submissions, compliments and complaints which do not result in significant changes to policy or procedures
Disposition: Destroy 6 years from resolution of complaints / response
Example(s):
- Letters of complaint (not resulting in major policy changes)
Rationale: Common Practice
Excludes routine communications of very minor significance (destroy on closure - see 2.4.7)
MA 2.5.4: The management of detailed responses to council actions, policy or procedures
Disposition: Destroy 6 years from conclusion of administrative use
Example(s):
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.5.5: Issuing routine communications to council staff and clients
Disposition: Review 7 years from closure then destroy or offer to Derbyshire Record Office if of enduring historic interest
Example(s):
- Staff newsletters, bulletins, magazines
Rationale: Common practice
Quality and performance management
MA 2.6.1: Monitoring or reviewing the quality, efficiency, or performance of services
Disposition: Destroy 6 years from closure of record (unless funding body requires longer retention)
Example(s):
- Customer satisfaction survey results
Rationale: Common practice, Local Authority Social Services Complaints (England) Regulations 2006
MA 2.6.2: Assessing / analysing the quality, efficiency or performance of services / activities
Disposition: Destroy 2 years from closure of record
Example(s):
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.7.1: Number not used
Formerly: The process of editorial preparation and press release (RS/C/PR/1/1, 2/1, 2/3, 3/1)
MA 2.7.2: Number not used
Formerly: The published work of the service (PR 2.2)
MA 2.7.3: Number not used
Formerly: The process of liaising with the community (MA 2.1.6 and 2.1.7)
MA 2.7.4: Number not used
Formerly: The process of developing council branding (PR 2.2)
MA 2.7.5: Number not used
Formerly: The process of using council branding for routine purposes (obsolete)
MA 2.8.1: Number not used
Formerly: The process of interaction with the media (PR 1.2)
MA 2.9.1: Number not used
Formerly: The process of advertising and media buying (see FIN 2.02)
Civic and royal events
MA 2.10.1: Recording ceremonial events and civic occasions
Disposition: Permanent. Offer to Derbyshire Record Office
Example(s):
- Photographs of royal visits
- Press cuttings
Rationale: Common practice
MA 2.10.2: Organising a ceremonial event or civic occasion
Disposition: Destroy 7 years from conclusion of administrative use
Example(s):
- Guest list for attending royal openings
Rationale: Common practice