Under the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 (the Act) Scottish public authorities must produce and submit a records management plan (RMP) setting out proper arrangements for the management of an authority’s public records to the Keeper of the Records of Scotland (the Keeper) for his agreement under section 1 of the Act.
To assist authorities in this process, the Keeper must prepare and publish a model records management plan (model plan). Before publishing the plan the Keeper must consult on a draft of the plan. The draft model plan was prepared in consultation with a stakeholder forum (an invited group of representative public authorities and private and voluntary bodies).
The draft model plan should be read in conjunction with the Guidance to the Form and Content of the model plan (“the Guidance”). The Guidance has been produced to comply with section 1(4) of the Act
The draft model plan suggests 14 elements that the Keeper would expect a Scottish public authority to consider when creating its RMP. The 14 elements are:
1. Senior management responsibility
2. Records manager responsibility
3. Records management policy statement
4. Business classification
5. Retention schedules
6. Destruction arrangements
7. Archiving and transfer arrangements
8. Information security
9. Data protection
10. Business continuity and vital records
11. Audit trail
12. Competency framework for records management staff
13. Assessment and review
14. Shared information