About the National Archives
The National Archives holds the national archives for England, Wales and the United Kingdom. It administers the UK's public record system under the Public Record Act of 1958 and 1967. The records kept span one thousand years.
The National Archives is an Executive Agency. The Cheif Executive of Public Records heads the Agency and is directly accountable to the Lord Chancellor.
The aims of The National Archives are:
- to assist and promote the study of the past through the public records in order to inform the present and the future
- to advise government on public record issues and related information policy matters.
Its objectives are:
- Selection: overseeing records management in government and selecting the public records to provide an information resource for our generation and for future generations.
- Preservation: preserving the public records
- Access: providing access to the public records and promoting their value and use as a national information and educational resource.
What are Public Records
These are the records of government selected for preservation and public access. Records come in many different forms and include written documents, maps, seals, photographs, moving images, sound records and electronic records created and read by computers.
Most records are open for users to see once the records are thirty years old but the Lord Chancellor and his ministerial colleagues may decide to release some records earlier or later than this. Anyone with proper identification can inspect the records without charge and can buy copies of most documents.
Complaints
Should you wish to make a complaint about The National Archives, it publishes a leaflet Putting Things Right to help you. The leaflet can be obtained from any of the offices of the National Archives.
If you wish to complain about the National Archives and are not able to do so at the office you should contact the Agency's Public Services Development Team by writing to:
Public Services Development Team
National Archives
Kew
Richmond
Surrey TW9 4DU
or by telephoning on 020 8392 5210
or by fax on 020 8392 5221 or email at yourpro@pro.gov.uk.
The National Archives will reply to all complaints. If matters are not resolved straight away, the senior manager responsible for the office concerned will look into things on your behalf. If this does not resolve the complaint, the Service Standards Officer can look into matters on behalf of the Chief Executive. Should you remain dissatisfied with the Agency's response after your complaint has been fully considered within the internal complaint procedures, you can refer your complaint to the Independent Complaints Reviewer, Jodi Berg, who will look into matters on your behalf.
The National Archives is situated at:
The National Archives
Ruskin Avenue
Kew
Richmond
Surrey TW9 4DU
Tel: 020 8876 3444
Fax: 020 8878 8905