Changes to TNA fees from February 2019

From the National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) in Kew, England:

Changes to our fees

From 1 February 2019, there will be changes to some of the fees we charge.

As a government department providing a public service, we are able to charge for some statutory services (as defined by the Public Records Act ) on a cost recovery basis. The Fees Order, which regulates our fees, has been refreshed from the last calculation which came into effect 1 April 2017. We are maintaining the standard approach in line with the HM Treasury publication, Managing Public Money, to set charges at a level that will recover full costs, ensuring that The National Archives neither profits at the expense of consumers nor makes a loss for taxpayers to subsidise.

There are both price increases and decreases, for example a digital copy up to A3 size goes up by 10p to £1.20. Currently, our research service costs £23.35 per 15 minutes, this will go up by £1.00. However, the charge for a copy of a naturalisation certificate will go down by 25p to £27.15.

As there is no legal requirement for The National Archives to digitise physical public records these services are by definition discretionary. We have therefore removed the following digital surrogate related lines:

• The creation of digital surrogates funded by others (for a commercial return, or to widen access)
• Reprographic charges (Production and Estimation)
• Image Library (Serviced Copies – Colour Photograph)
• Digital Downloads
• Conservation for Digitisation

In addition to, but separate from, the Fees Order changes, we are introducing a fee for the provision of letters of no evidence of naturalisation, in the same way that we charge for certified copies of naturalisation certificates. They will incur a fee of £27.15 which is regulated to be the cost recovery price (i.e. the cost to The National Archives doing the work).

A full list of fees can be found here.

(With thanks to @IHGS for flagging up - TNA's original announcement is at http://livelb.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/changes-to-our-fees/) 

Chris


For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Northamptonshire Archives drops charging plan

Northamptonshire Archives and Heritage Service has released a welcome statement on its plans to charge fees at the archive:

04 August 2017

For Immediate Release

STATEMENT: NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ARCHIVES & HERITAGE SERVICE

Northamptonshire County Council has reviewed its decision to change opening hours at its archives and heritage service after listening to the views of its regular users and supporters.

The archives service will now be open for free access on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm and the first Saturday in each month, 9am to 1pm.

In light of financial pressures and reducing visitor numbers, there will be a review of the service ahead of the next financial year as part of the budget setting process and this will include a full consultation around any proposed changes.

In 2016, the service was visited by a total of 3,500 researchers, a drop of 50 per cent compared with 2006.
County council cabinet member for public protection, strategic infrastructure and economic growth Cllr André Gonzalez de Savage said: “Having listened to the views of our service users here in Northamptonshire and across the UK, a decision has been made to reconsider the proposed changes to opening hours.

“However, given our significant financial challenges, changes to customer behaviour and a growth in online enquiries, we need to consider how best to use our limited resources and will be reviewing the service in the coming months as part of the annual budget process.

“As part of this there will be a full public consultation in which service users will be able to provide their feedback ahead of any changes being implemented.”

The archive has also added a clarification via its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonshireArchives/):

Today’s press release details the hours for free access to the search room, index room and to original documents as follows: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm and the first Saturday in each month, 9am to 1pm.

We would like to clarify that the option to pay for research room time outside of these hours will not be offered. Researchers can continue to book 1-2-1 time with our Research Assistant during the times we are otherwise closed, as has always been the case. It is this service that is charged at £31.50 per hour. The only change to our current arrangements is that the search room will be closed between 1pm and 2pm, though the public tea area and toilets will remain open

COMMENT: This is a welcome development in light of what the archive previously announced. Thanks to Dr Mary Ann Lund for creating her petition at https://www.change.org/p/northamptonshire-county-council-northamptonshire-county-council-don-t-charge-for-visiting-archives (now at 3681 signatures), to all who signed and promoted it, and to the archive sector, genealogy organisations and individuals that spoke up against the prospect of charging. The ball now lies with Northamptonshire County Council.

UPDATE: AGRA has issued a statement welcoming the council's move - see http://www.agra.org.uk/news-agra-welcomes-northants-cc-response-to-fees-protest-2017-08-04

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

AGRA condemns Northamptonshire Archives' 'drastic cuts'

The Association of Genealogists and Record Agents (www.agra.org.uk), which represents many professional family historians in England and Wales, has condemned the access charges to be imposed by Northamptonshire Archives, and the dramatic reduction in free access hours (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/northamptonshire-council-to-impose.html). As part of its statement the organisation has said:

Our members are users of county records offices and other local (and national) archives, and we have noted over recent times the increasing trend for public access to archive services to be cut without any regard to the practical impact on service users that are researchers, both professional and non professional. We acknowledge that these are challenging times for all local authorities but these changes have come as a complete surprise. They have not been subject to any form of public consultation and no alternatives have been presented for public comment. The plans may be a ‘bold step in difficult times’ (words taken from the Council’s recent statement); but AGRA’s view is that they are drastic cuts, not fully thought through, and the worry is that such a step will set a precedent to be followed by others.

The full statement is available at http://www.agra.org.uk/news-agra-protest-against-archive-visitor-fee-2017-07-31.

COMMENT: Dr Mary Ann Lund's petition against the new archive fees has now passed 2600 signatures. Please read and sign if you agree that an hourly £31.50 access rate is simply not on - https://www.change.org/p/northamptonshire-county-council-northamptonshire-county-council-don-t-charge-for-visiting-archives

(With thanks to Sharon Grant, Chair of AGRA)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Save Northamptonshire County Record Office Facebook group

In light of developments in Northamptonshire this week, a new Facebook group has been set up called Save Northamptonshire County Record Office, located at https://www.facebook.com/groups/513111562360866/. The group is a closed group, so if you wish to join click on the Join Group button and await admin approval to participate. Established earlier today, it already has almost fifty members.

Elsewhere, the petition set up just over a day ago by Dr Mary Ann Lund from the University of Leicester, asking Northamptonshire County Council to think again on its access plans for the county archive, has already gained over 1300 signatures. You can sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/northamptonshire-county-council-northamptonshire-county-council-don-t-charge-for-visiting-archives.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

Northamptonshire Record Office fees - the archive sector responds

The following statement has been issued by John Chambers, Chief Executive of the Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland) (www.archives.org.uk), with regards to the shocking developments concerning records access at Northamptonshire Record Office (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/northamptonshire-holds-firm-on-archive.html):

The news of the drastic service reductions at Northamptonshire Record Office in England this week came as a surprise to the Archives and Records Association. In short the county council has reduced the ‘free public access’ element of the service to 12 hours a week (three mornings), proposing to charge over £30 an hour for ‘research support’ outside these hours. Usually we get to hear about threatened cuts and can take some pre-emptive action but on this occasion we were not aware of these proposals. We will now do what we can to challenge the cuts in free public access. The proposed charges are likely to cost more to administer than they ever raise in revenue. There are bound to be questions about the sustainability of the archive service in Northamptonshire, its status as an official Place of Deposit and the county’s ability to retain custody of part of its local heritage over the long term.

We have contacted The National Archives about the Northamptonshire situation. As TNA is the regulator of Places of Deposit in England and Wales, we will urge it to seek to reverse what has happened. We will be contacting both the Leader and Chief Executive of Northamptonshire County Council and others to urge the same.

Separately, members will know that the ARA has been working on the sustainability and resilience of local government record offices for the last year and commissioned a report from Elizabeth Oxborrow-Cowan. The ARA Board considered and approved the report at its annual planning day last month and is developing an action plan based on the recommendations in the report. We will publish the findings after Conference in the autumn. Evidently, the need for us to lead this work going forward has become more urgent than ever.

COMMENT: It seems clear that this move by Northamptonshire County Council is out of step with what the archive sector itself considers best practice.

A reminder that the petition opposing the development is online at https://www.change.org/p/northamptonshire-county-council-northamptonshire-county-council-don-t-charge-for-visiting-archives

(With thanks to Lorraine Logan and John Chambers)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

Northamptonshire holds firm on archive fees

Northamptonshire County Council has issued the following statement in response to criticism of its appalling plans to drastically reduce free access to its county archive, and to charge £31.50 an hour for the remainder of the week (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/northamptonshire-council-to-impose.html):

STATEMENT ON NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ARCHIVES AND HERITAGE SERVICE OPENING HOURS

Northamptonshire County Council is responsible for making sure that limited and reducing local government resources are used as effectively as possible. In the current financial climate, it has no option but to look at how best to remodel service delivery with reduced budgets.

The Archives Service changes to opening hours that will be implemented from 21 August show a commitment to maintaining free public access to archives. The service will continue to be free for on-site visitors from 9am to 1pm Tuesday to Thursday and one Saturday morning each month. 

Customers have said that they most need and want online access to resources; numbers visiting the service in person have fallen dramatically in the past two years. This has been taken into account in this revision to opening hours and the intention is that outside the core opening hours, the service’s limited staff resources will be redirected to the work of digitisation and developing on-line access to archives.

In order to mitigate the impact on research of the changes, the service has in fact extended the times during which people can choose to visit.

These additional hours are chargeable but are offered in order to support researchers and not otherwise.

This is a bold step in difficult times and we seek your support as we work to ensure that researchers can enjoy and learn from our rich collections now and into the future.


COMMENT: This is quite classically a response looking at the accounts and not the point of the service. It is an appalling assault on the right to free access to the county's heritage, already paid for by local taxation. Will they be charging for access to their libraries next? What alternatives were considered? Where was the consultation?

If this plan continues, it may well incentivise other archives to do the same, and utterly devastate the provision for both genealogical and academic research. A petition opposing the plans and calling for a rethink has been set up by Dr. Mary Ann Lund from the University of Leicester. If you do one thing today, please seriously consider signing the petition - it is available at https://www.change.org/p/northamptonshire-county-council-northamptonshire-county-council-don-t-charge-for-visiting-archives.

Here is just one of many comments on the petition:

Archives should be for all. As a specialist curator for the National Trust and as Chairman of the Furniture History Society, both charities, charging scholars and ratepayers for access to historic documents seems a retrograde step, which, if implemented, would set a regrettable precedent. It would go against the wishes of donors and depositors of archives (the National Trust is a major depositor of archives across the country) betraying the natural assumption that access to historic documents would be available to all without charge. Charging over £30 an hour would deter many scholars and younger researchers. It will tarnish the reputation of Northampton.

This really has got the makings of a devastating development for our sector, whether for amateurs or professionals requiring access to archive records. Please sign.

(With thanks to Wendy Archer via email)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

Northamptonshire Council to impose outrageous archive charges

There has been what can only be described as a fairly outrageous development in England this week with regard to access to archives, in that Northamptonshire County Council has decided to restrict free access to its archives collections from August 21st to Tuesday-Thursday monrings, and a handful Saturdays throughout the year - and to impose a whopping sized charge of £31.50 per hour for access at other times.

Here is the announcement from the archive's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonshireArchives/:

Important Information: From 21 August 2017, opening times for free access to the Archives Service will be as follows:

• Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday: 9am to 1pm
• First Saturday of the month only, April - October: 9am to 4pm

The times during which researchers can visit the Archives Service are being increased. Appointments can now be booked, in advance and for a fee, to view original documents during the following times. The current fee is £31.50 per hour.

• Monday & Friday: 10am - 1pm and 2pm - 4pm
• Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday: 2pm - 4pm

1-1 personal consultations can also be booked in advance for an hourly fee during the following times:

• Monday to Friday: 9am - 4pm

A subsequent post made today (Wednesday) states "A further statement about the changes to opening hours will be made tomorrow."

Such a charges regime will surely be damaging to the archive - who is going to pay £31.50 an hour to view its holdings? Clearly a MAJOR rethink is in order here.

A petition condeming the announcement and asking the archive to go home and think again is available at https://www.change.org/p/northamptonshire-county-council-northamptonshire-county-council-don-t-charge-for-visiting-archives - please do sign. If this sets a precedent, it will cause unlimited damage to the field of family history research, and I would venture, hit academic research hard also.

(With thanks to Vivienne Dunstan via Facebook)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.