Federation Of Family History Societies

Change at The National Archives (TNA)

In July we drew attention to the proposed changes put forward by TNA.  Following a period of consultation, TNA has now announced its firm plans for change which will begin to take effect from the end of this year.  Details can be found on TNA’s website at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/changes.htm.

The finalised plans were unveiled at the monthly user forum held yesterday at Kew.  The main proposals remain in place, namely closure to the public on Mondays (from January 2010); the introduction of car park charges (from April 2010); and changes to copying and microform services (to be phased in from the end of 2009).  Some adjustments have been made to the details as a result of comments received during the consultation process.  The presentation given at the user forum can be downloaded at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/final-plans-for-changes-at-the-national-archives.pdf.

It will come as no surprise that the changes were not well received by those who have been in the forefront of the criticism aimed at the proposals.  However, it was noticeable that some of the critics seemed to be guilty of the sort of misrepresentation they claimed had been used by TNA.  Either that or they are unable to interpret documents as well as might be expected.

It is to be hoped that lessons will be learnt from this exercise so that future consultation is much more effective.  In the present situation it was much more like paying lip service to consultation after the decisions had been reached.  Natalie Ceeney, chief executive, said that employment law made it difficult to have open discussion in the light of the impact on staff caused by the loss of jobs.  Ideally, stakeholders should be given the opportunity to provide input at the earliest stages of thinking, when there is a realistic possibility of influencing the decision-making process.  Also, the reasoning behind some of the decisions was not well communicated at first.  This caused conflict which could have been avoided if more thought had been given to this.

We understand that there will be an opportunity to demonstrate how well these lessons have been understood in the not-too-distant future.

Roger Lewry
FFHS Archives Liaison

25 September 2009