Information about the legislation, management and policies that govern the archive service at The Story.
Mission statement
The Story collects, conserves, secures and makes accessible historical records relating to County Durham and Darlington to enable learning and education, business operations, local accountability, and personal enrichment.
Governance
The Story is part of the Culture, sport and tourism service grouping in the Regeneration, Economy and Growth directorate at Durham County Council. For more information see the Council structure page on the Durham County Council website.
Legislation
The Story provides the official archive service for Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council under a number of pieces of legislation, including:
Public Records Act 1958
Durham County Record Office is appointed as a place of deposit for public records and is inspected by The National Archives to ensure compliance.
Local Government (Records) Act 1962
This Act confers discretionary powers for local authorities to provide an archives service.
Local Government Act 1972
This Act requires local authorities to ‘make proper arrangements with respect to any documents that belong to or are in the custody of the Council or any of their officers’. In 1999, the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions issued guidance as to what was meant by ‘proper arrangements’.
Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978
This measure governs the inspection and care of parish records. The Diocese of Durham has appointed Durham County Record Office as the place of deposit for parish records.
An inspection of all parishes in the Diocese of Durham is carried out every five years under the Parochial Registers and Records Measure 1978.
Archive Service Accreditation
Accredited Status was awarded by The National Archives in July 2018 (accreditation number 2018-21) and retained by review in November 2021.
Policies
These policies describe how we manage our archive collections, our organisational responsibilities and our commitment to archive service users.
