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In the inaugural issue of this magazine, publishedbefore the General Election produced an unexpectedcoalition government, I highlighted some of thechallenges facing the archival community (May

2010, ‘Archives in Peril’). At the time, no one knew thefull extent of the financial crisis and bleak economicoutlook portrayed by the new administration, and thesubsequent cuts to public services that would follow sothat Britain could slowly move towards balancing itsbooks once again.

Amongst the many targets of the swinging axe are publicservice groups and quangos that have proliferated over thelast few decades – and the archival sector is no exception.Since 2000, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council(MLA) has acted as the co-ordinating body for variousprogrammes of work, funding opportunities and strategicplanning across the three heritage sectors. This included the‘Archives in the 21st Century’ consultation on behalf of theprevious government, which concluded last year with a setof recommendations for a new approach to regionalrequirements for archives, holdingout the possibility that smallerarchives would be closed and largerinstitutions with a wider regionalremit would be created.

On 26 July the Culture Secretary,Jeremy Hunt, announced that MLAactivities would be wound down and the organizationdisbanded by April 2012, as part of the government’splans to slash public spending. Funds would instead befocused ‘on front line, essential services and ensuringgreater value for money’ in the sector, with thereassurance that ‘government support for museums,libraries and archives will continue’.

Archives are the junior partners in the sector, whichmakes them more vulnerable than other institutions. Thisannouncement is therefore particularly unwelcome news,and comes hot on the heels of the announcement that aunified Archives and Records Association (ARA) wasformed on 1 June 2010 as a result of a merger of the NationalCouncil on Archives and the Association of Chief Archivistsin Local Government with the Society of Archivists. Havinga single, unified voice for the sector would be a good thingunder normal circumstances if it were not for the fact that itis part funded by MLA, with The National Archives – itselffacing up to the fact that it may also have to cut costs furtherafter last year’s 10 per cent budget reduction – contributingmoney too. So its future role, remit and shape must alsocome under question.

In short, the archives sector faces its greatest threat indecades, yet as any historian – whether family, local,professional or academic – will tell you, the documentsare the bedrock, foundation and building blocks of anypiece of research and subsequent writing. Access,cataloguing, interpretation and animation are paramountto preserve our unique written heritage – yet with theimminent demise of MLA, there is no champion to makethe case for the importance of archives to the widerworld. It cannot be taken for granted that the currentpopularity of history is recognized by the powers that beas a reason for supporting the sector financially. A strong,respected leader in the field is needed to convince thegovernment that any further cuts would be catastrophicand cause irreversible damage, especially if specialistknowledge is lost and access to original collectionsreduced.

Given the traditionally key role TNA plays inchampioning the cause of archives, the crisis comes at aparticularly unfortunate time due to the fact that TNA is

without a Chief Executive sinceNatalie Ceeney stepped downearlier this year. At present, anacting Chief Executive is in postwhilst the Ministry for Justice andthe associated civil servants decidewhether a permanent appointment

can be made, given the current recruitment freeze.There should be no debate, no prevarication, and no

more hesitating. An external candidate must be appointedto run TNA who has a background in archives or history,who appreciates the value of specialist knowledge andcataloguing, who understands the requirements of aresearcher, and who can make a persuasive case togovernment that investment, rather than cuts, would notonly prevent a collapse of the sector but create theopportunity for generating new revenue streams. A caseneeds to be made that archives can provide a wide rangeof services, not just in terms of historical research, but coreeducation activities, social cohesion through communityactivities, heritage tourism and cultural activity to namebut a few benefits.

It is time to act to secure the future of our past – or werisk losing it forever.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 0 YO U R FA M I LY H I S TO RY

What Future Does The Past Have?

T H E L A S T W O R D

The archives sectorfaces its greatestthreat in decades …

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