Staffordshire County Council – Information governance

The challenge

Historically records had been held in siloed and disparate locations across the council due to the organic and unstructured growth of information. This led to layers of duplication, retention of obsolete information and inaccessible files. As well as the compliancy issues the council also needed to move data off on-site files to a Cloud based solution. An online corporate file plan was agreed, utilising the Microsoft 365 technology currently in place. This included classification and retention in order to keep the organisations core business information and project data more efficiently and to ensure ease of accessibility for all teams across the authority. 

The solution

A council project team was established from Information Governance, Project Management and ICT in order to define the storage system needed and the structure required.  Working with an external provider, the council developed a SharePoint corporate file plan, based on the Local Government Functional Classification Scheme (LGFCS). The corporate file plan provides a central location across the council for business information, based on the functions of a local authority. All business areas worked to develop and build the locations required within the plan based on the activities performed in their service area. All colleagues can navigate the top-level functions and activities, but at the lower folder level information and records can only be accessed by those who have appropriate permissions based on what is relevant to their team and role. All areas within the file plan at the building stage also have retentions labels agreed which are either automated (based on creation or modifed) or are manual instructions. 

In order to ensure engagement with the new records system all staff received an overview session to highlight the need for and background to the project. File planning workshops were held for key decision makers to identify the information for building the file plan, for example key activities, appropriate permission groups and details of retention and disposal requirements. File plans were then signed off by service areas and built within the SharePoint EDRMS by ICT. A mapping workshop was held to identify which legacy folders and records needed to be migrated into the new corporate file plan, these were moved by ICT using specialist migration tools. All staff going live were supported with training sessions and virtual floor walking.

The impact

The purpose of the project was well understood and achieved buy-in across the organisation, from the top down. Communications about the project were clear, and focussed on explaining the aims and benefits of the records management system whilst the project team were also available and approachable to answer any queries. In order to engage with all staff and keep the organisation informed there was frequent communication about the rollout delivery plan. Staff were encouraged by managers to prioritise attendance at meetings and training and a range of support materials were made available to staff, including written guides and videos.

As the system is still being rolled out the benefits realisation is ongoing, however feedback surveys completed by staff who are live with the system have already provided insight, commenting that collaborating on documents is easier, ways of working are more efficient, documents are easier to find and retention periods are clear. There will continue to be a records management programme of work to rationalise repositories of data across the organisation, the corporate file plan has enabled this, being the core central repository for data with robust records management controls built into it. The system is already proving to be rationalising information repositories and provide the foundation for more robust records management and information governance compliance.

Lessons learnt

The programme management for the project was complex, involving records management and technical aspects such as the details of data migration, so roles and responsibilities had to be developed and made clear to stakeholders at an early stage. Information Governance are leading the project however ICT and digital were key stakeholders so those initial relationships needed defining. Setting up a user focus group was a valuable source to help define some aspects of the system and influence the processes needed within it. Initially, a pilot was run with varying sizes of teams and volume and types of data in order to test processes and ensure that the system was fit for purpose. The rollout of Microsoft 365 apps had taken place in the authority prior to robust governance frameworks being implemented which resulted in some rationalisation of SharePoint and Teams sites (and the records held on them) being required in conjunction with this project. This has also meant that the authority has utilised existing technology in place and staff have not had to learn and be comfortable with ‘another’ new system. Clear communication and training across all staff in the organisation was vital to ensure engagement and culture change with the new records management system and processes – the culture change will continue even when the system is fully adopted. 

Sustainability

LG Inform Plus offers a comprehensive Records Retention tool which is designed to support local authorities in efficiently managing their records while ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The tool provides over 1,890 regularly updated retention schedules covering a wide range of service areas. Key benefits include:

• Access to pre-defined and customisable retention schedules aligned with current legislation.
• Simplified document labelling with retention and review dates. 
• Clear guidance for managing both digital and physical records
• Training resources to help staff understand their responsibilities in maintaining effective information governance.

By utilising the Records Retention tool, local authorities can streamline their records management process, enhance compliance and uphold a clean, efficient and legally compliant records system.