University Secretary

You will need to consider a number of factors when determining the retention periods of your records: e.g.

• Are there any laws that require the records to be retained?
• Have the records been consulted within the last 5 years?
• Are they simply copies of information held by another department?
• What will the consequences be if the records are discarded?  

For more guidance on the factors to be considered, see the retention requirements flowchart.and retention schedules.

It is important to establish retention periods for your records not only so that they are managed efficiently, but also to ensure compliance with the law: e.g.

• Data Protection Act 1998: it is a breach of the fifth data protection principle to continue to hold personal data once it has served the purpose for which it was gathered;
• Freedom of Information Act 2000: under section 77 it is a criminal offence to destroy information in order to prevent disclosure.  Documenting retention periods will allow a department to prove its records have been destroyed legitimately.