1 PURPOSE

1.1 The purpose of this policy is to establish a framework for the creation and management of current and semi-current records of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis. The Government is committed to establishing and maintaining record keeping practices that meet business needs, accountability requirements and stakeholder expectations.

2 POLICY STATEMENT

2.1 The records of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis are important sources of administrative, evidential and historical information, a major component of its corporate memory and as such constitute a vital public asset that support ongoing operations and provide valuable evidence of business activities over time. The Government is committed to implementing best practice record-keeping systems to ensure that records are created, maintained and disposed of within a managed framework, regardless of their physical format, with appropriate evidential characteristics.

2.2 The Government is committed to implementing good record keeping practices in accordance with the principles set out in the International Standard ISO 15489-1 Information and Documentation – Records Management and International Standard ISO 15489-2 Information and Documentation – Records Management, Guidelines and the National Records and Archives Act No. 21 of 2002

3 SCOPE

3.1 This policy applies to all staff and elected members of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, all aspects of the Government’s work, all records created and received during the conduct of Government business and all information systems used to create and manage records.
3.2 This policy provides and overarching framework for any other Government records management policies, practices and procedures.
3.3 The Policy will be supported by the following documentation:

  • Records Management Manual
  • Retention Schedules

3.4 This policy and its supporting procedures and guidelines shall be disseminated throughout Government Ministries and Departments and Statutory Bodies.

4 BENEFITS

The benefits of effective records management for the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis are:
4.1 the creation of accurate and reliable records that are created, stored and disposed of in a managed environment;
4.2 the creation of records that are complete in content and containing the structural and contextual information necessary to document a transaction.
4.3 increased administrative efficiency and effectiveness;
4.4 accurate and timely retrieval through the use effective filing schemes and finding aids;
4.5 savings in administrative costs;
4.6 the support and timely achievement of business objectives and targets;
4.7 the retention of records for the minimum period of time in line with agreed schedules and with the legislative and evidential needs of Government;
4.8 the identification of records of historical value for permanent retention at the earliest possible moment;
4.9 ensuring that records are created and managed in the most appropriate medium for the task that they perform;
4.10 compliance with confidentiality and closure periods;

5 OBJECTIVES

This policy sets out to:
5.1 implement good record keeping practice in accordance with ISO 15489 Parts 1 and 2 Information and Documentation – Records Management.
5.2 develop and encourage a culture which acknowledges the benefits and values of effective records management throughout Government.
5.3 ensure that an effective framework exists within Government and each of its Ministries, Departments and Statutory Bodies to support, implement and monitor the Government’s policy relating to records management.
5.4 manage and store records in a suitable format to retain quality, relevance, accessibility, durability and reliability and that transfer to another format has due regard to retaining these qualities.
5.5 ensure the most efficient use of time, money, people and buildings in the management and preservation of records.
5.6 develop and implement best practice for electronic records creation, management and preservation.
5.7 ensure that records created by Ministries, Departments and Statutory bodies have relevant content, context and format and that they are accurate, timely and under control.
5.8 to ensure that records vital to the operation of Government are identified and protected.
5.9 to ensure that records of historical, cultural and educational significance are identified as early as possible and are permanently preserved in the National Archives.
5.10 to ensure that records are accessible to those who are entitled ti make use of them
5.11 to ensure that staff involved in managing records will receive the necessary training.

6 RESPONSIBILITIES

6.1 The National Records and Archives Authority is responsible for the authorization of the Records Management Policy;
6.2 The Heads of Departments are responsible for the management of this policy through resource allocation and other management support;
6.3 The Director of Archives is responsible for supporting and advising the Ministries, Departments and Statutory bodies on all aspects of records management, including the overseeing of the design, implementation and maintenance of the Records Management Policy, as well as monitoring compliance;
6.4 Systems administrators, in collaboration with the Director of Archives, are responsible for maintaining the technology for the Government’s record keeping systems; including responsibility for the integrity and authenticity of records;
6.5 All staff are responsible for creating and keeping accurate and reliable records in compliance with this policy and its supporting documentation;
6.6 Each Ministry, Department and Statutory body is responsible for the effective management of records relating to its business and for implementing the records management programme;

7 MONITORING COMPLIANCE

7.1 Interpretation of the policy will be monitored and there will be Internal Audits to assess how the policy is being put into practice. These inspections will seek to:

  • Identify areas of good practice which can be used throughout the Government;
  • Highlight where non-conformance to procedures is occurring;
  • If appropriate, recommend a tightening of controls and make recommendations as to how compliance can be achieved.

8 REVIEW

8.1 This policy comes in effect in January 2007. It will be reviewed in 2010.