Dear Susan Meadows,
 
Thank you for your information request to The National Archives. We are
handling your request and have given it reference number
CAS-103471-G1D9X9.
 
We will update you on the progress of your request by 18/01/2023 19:00.
 
Requests relating to military personnel records will be processed by the
MOD Personnel Records (Access Service Team). 
 
For more information about this project, please visit [1]MOD Records
Project - The National Archives.
 
Otherwise, your request will be processed by The National Archives’
Freedom of Information Centre.
 
To learn more about the work of the FOI centre please visit the following
webpage: [2]www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/foi/

Yours sincerely,
The Freedom of Information Centre
Government & Information Rights 
The National Archive
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2. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/foi/

Dear Mrs Meadows,

Thank you for your enquiry of 15^th December 2022, in which you asked for
the following information about accreditation of Suffolk Archives at The
National Archives.

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act
2000. The FOI Act gives you the right to know whether we hold the
information you want and to have it communicated to you, subject to any
exemptions which may apply.

I can confirm that The National Archives holds information relevant to
your request and we are pleased to be able to provide you with some of the
documents you have requested.

We are unable to provide you with some of the information you have
requested because it is covered by the exemption at section 40(2) of the
FOI Act, which exempts from release personal information about a ‘third
party’ (someone other than the requester), if revealing it would breach
the terms of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998.

Your request

I request all documentation concerning the Archive Service Accreditation
of the Suffolk Record Office service (now called 'Suffolk Archives')
produced or received since that which was included in your response to an
earlier request on this same matter sent on 30 September 2021 (this
earlier request, and your response to it, can be viewed at this link:

[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
).

This to include details of the November 2022 meeting of the Archive
Service Accreditation Panel – where it is understood the said archives
service's accreditation was reviewed; as well as details of the recent
presentation of an accreditation certificate made to the said service at
'The Hold' in Ipswich.

Our response

We have searched our records and found the following documents to be of
relevance to the first part of your request:

1. Email inviting Suffolk Record Office to their regular Accreditation
review in 2023. As the service’s status has not been reviewed since
September 2021 there is no other programme documentation around the
service’s Accreditation status since the previous enquiry.
2. Email about the schedule for the next Accreditation application
2a. Accredited Archive Service Application Form June 2021

Suffolk Archives’ accreditation was not reviewed at the November 2022
Accreditation Panel meeting, nor is it under consideration for the next
Panel meeting. TNA therefore do not hold this information.

However, a presentation for the provisional Accreditation certificate to
Suffolk Archives was held on November 11^th, 2022. This was done as part
of a wider visit to The Hold by TNA CEO Jeff James, Valerie Johnson
(Director of Research and Collections) and Baroness Ros Scott
(non-executive director at TNA). We found the following documents to be
relevant to the second part of your request:

3. Arranging TNA visit to The Hold, Ipswich
4. Arranging tour of The Hold Accreditation presentation
5. CEO Briefing template - Suffolk Archives v1
6. Sector visit to The Hold Suffolk Archives REVISED
7. Accreditation presentation to Suffolk Archives v.1
8. Dates for a visit to The Hold in Ipswich
9. Press Release - The National Archives Visit
9a. TNA visit PR - version 5 - with TNA quote
10. Press release re visit/presentation at The Hold, 11 November
10a. TNA visit PR - version 4
10b. TNA visit PR - version 5 - with TNA quote
11. Press release re visit_ presentation at The Hold, 11 November
11a. Archive Service Accreditation is the UK standard for archive services
v1
12. Correspondence RE Suffolk Archives visit photos

Please find attached the PDF documents of the above.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or the decision
which has been reached, you have the right to ask for an internal review. 
Internal review requests must be submitted within two months of the date
of this response and should be addressed to:

Quality Manager
Visitor Experience
The National Archives
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU
[2][email address]

Please mark your complaint clearly. You have the right to ask the
Information Commissioner (ICO) to investigate any aspect of your
complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal
complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning his
investigation.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Assessor
Freedom of Information Centre
Public Access & Government Services
The National Archives

 
EXPLANATORY ANNEX

Your request in full

Dear National Archives,

I request all documentation concerning the Archive Service Accreditation
of the Suffolk Record Office service (now called 'Suffolk Archives')
produced or received since that which was included in your response to an
earlier request on this same matter sent on 30 September 2021 (this
earlier request, and your response to it, can be viewed at this link:

[3]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
).

This to include details of the November 2022 meeting of the Archive
Service Accreditation Panel – where it is understood the said archives
service's accreditation was reviewed; as well as details of the recent
presentation of an accreditation certificate made to the said service at
'The Hold' in Ipswich.

Yours faithfully,

Susan Meadows (Mrs)

Exemptions applied
 
Section 40(2): Personal Information where the applicant is not the data
subject
Section 40 exempts personal information about a ‘third party’ (someone
other than the requester), if revealing it would breach the terms of Data
Protection Legislation. Data Protection Legislation prevents personal
information from release if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason
why it was collected, or where the subject had officially served notice
that releasing it would cause them damage or distress. Personal
information must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner
as set out by Art. 5 of the United Kingdom General Data Protection
Regulation (UK GDPR).

In this case the exemption applies because the requested material contains
information which would identify junior members of staff.

Publishing the names and contact details of junior members of staff is
considered an unfair use of personal data. Junior members of staff would
have no expectation that information about their positions would be made
available in the public domain; to do so would be unfair and contravene
the first data protection principle of the Data Protection Act. As such,
the names, positions and contact details of junior officials are withheld
under section 40 (2) of the FOI Act.

Further guidance about the publication of junior staff names can be
found here:
[4]https://ico.org.uk/media/fororganisation...

In this case the exemption applies because the requested material contains
the personal and the sensitive personal information of a number of
identified individuals assumed still to be living. These individuals have
a reasonable expectation of privacy which would not include the release of
this information into the public domain by The National Archives during
their lifetime. To do so would be likely to cause damage and/or distress
and would be a breach of the first data protection principle, which is
concerned with the fair, lawful and transparent processing of information
of this kind.

Further guidance on the application of this exemption cab be found here:
[5]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
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