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ITEM EX10 - ANNEX 1

EXECUTIVE - 3 APRIL 2002

RECORDS MANAGEMENT IN OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Records Management Objectives

Efficient records management practices would meet the following objectives:

  • Control of the totality of OCC’s informational resources for the identification and preservation of vital operational information, the meeting of legal obligations, and the security of such information.
  • The ability to identify and retrieve information without delay, both for the operational efficiency of the organisation, and to meet the requirements of such legislation as Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
  • Cost-effective review and disposal policies, to minimise storage and filing requirements (both physical and electronic) while preserving essential information.
  • The channelling of historically important information into permanent preservation in the County’s archive.

The following are essential to a functional records management policy:

  • Complete, centralised knowledge and understanding of all the information, in whatever form, held by OCC in order to perform its functions.
  • Coherent structuring of this information to reflect its context and the business processes in which it is used; structure has significant informational value in itself.
  • Informed value judgement on the importance of the various levels and information blocks within the structure.
  • Schedules for the transfer of vital, non-current information into cost-effective storage.
  • Regular review of transferred material for loss of vital status, and disposal of information which has been designated non-vital.
  • Creation of retrieval aids for vital, non-current information, and rapid retrieval systems for organisational operation and legal requirements.
  • Maintenance of storage to appropriate standards of security and integrity, with disaster planning systems in place, at cost-effective levels.
  • Access to legal, professional and administrative advice on matters related to the information and its preservation.

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