Who we are

The Scottish Records Advisory Council is a statutory body established under the Public Records (Scotland) Act, 1937. Its function is to advise Scottish Ministers, the Lord President and Lord Justice General on matters relating to the custody, preservation, indexing and cataloguing of the records of Scotland and to act as a channel of response about services and facilities provided for public access to these. Originally this duty related largely to the work of the Scottish Record Office (now the National Archives of Scotland), but since the Keeper's role has expanded greatly in recent years, the Council has also extended its brief to cover all public records in Scotland, including those of local authorities, NHS Trusts and higher education institutions. The Council also considers the relationship between the NAS and owners of important private collections. Its remit was extended in 2002 to include the application of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act to information in records held by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland.

What we do

The Council meets at least twice a year (generally in April and October) to discuss issues of current relevance to Scottish archives and to review record-keeping practice in Scotland. The Council have made proposals to the former Secretary of State for Scotland and more recently to the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice for new archive legislation and discussions on data protection legislation and the training of archivists in Scotland. The Council has also provided valuable comment on consultation papers 'An Open Scotland: Freedom of Information' the subsequent 'Freedom of Information: Consultation on Draft Legislation' and 'Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland' and to the Scottish Executive's National Cultural Strategy document. The Council submits an annual report to Scottish Ministers which is published in the National Archives of Scotland Annual Report.