Public Records Act 1958

Departmental records

2 (1) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, administrative and departmental records belonging to Her Majesty, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, in right of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and, in particular.—

(a) records of, or held in, any department of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, or

(b) records of any office, commission or other body or establishment whatsoever under Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom,

shall be public records.

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph shall not apply—

(a) to records of any government department or body which is wholly or mainly concerned with Scottish affairs, or which carries on its activities wholly or mainly in Scotland, or

(b) to registers, or certified copies of entries in registers, being registers or certified copies kept or deposited in the General Register Office under or in pursuance of any enactment, whether past or future, which provides for the registration of births, deaths, marriages or adoptions, or

(c) except so far as provided by paragraph 4 of this Schedule, to records of the Duchy of Lancaster, or

(d) to records of the office of the Public Trustee relating to individual trusts.

3 (1) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (1) of the last foregoing paragraph, the administrative and departmental records of bodies and establishments set out in the Table at the end of this paragraph shall be public records, whether or not they are records belonging to Her Majesty.

(2) The provisions of this paragraph shall not be taken as applying to records in any museum or gallery mentioned in the said Table which form part of its permanent collections (that is to say records which the museum or gallery has acquired otherwise than by transfer from or arrangements with a government department).

TABLE

PART I BODIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS UNDER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS

Responsible Government Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	Agricultural Wages Board.
	Agricultural Wages Committees.
	Organisation known as the " National Farm Survey ".
	Official seed testing station for England and Wales.
Air Ministry	Meteorological Office.
Ministry of Education	Victoria and Albert Museum.
	Science Museum.
Ministry of Health	National Health Service Authorities other than local health authorities.
	National health service hospitals except— records of endowments passing to Boards of Governors under section seven of the National Health Service Act, 1946. records relating to funds held by Hospital Boards and Committees under sections fifty-nine and sixty of the said Act, and records of private patients admitted under section five of the said Act.
	Welsh Board of Health.
Home Office	Office of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
	Office of Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District.
Ministry of Labour and National Service.	National Dock Labour Board.
	National Institute of Houseworkers Limited.
	Wages Boards and Wages Councils.
Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.	National Insurance Advisory Committee.
	Industrial Injuries Advisory Council.
	National Insurance and Industrial Injuries Joint Authorities.
	Workmen's Compensation Supplementation Board.
	Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Benefit Board.
Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.	Air Transport Advisory Council.
	Air Registration Board.

PART II OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS AND ORGANISATIONS

Anglo-Egyptian Resettlement Board.

British Museum (including the Natural History Museum).

Catering Wages Commission.

Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation.

Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations except when acting for governments or authorities outside Her Majesty's dominions.

Development Commission.

Imperial War Museum.

Irish Sailors' and Soldiers' Land Trust.

London Museum.

Monopolies Commission.

National Coal Board.

National Gallery.

National Maritime Museum.

National Parks Commission.

National Portrait Gallery.

National Savings Committee.

Office of Registrar of Restrictive Trading Agreements.

Remploy Limited.

Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Tate Gallery.

Trustee Savings Banks Inspection Committee.

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

University Grants Committee.

Wallace Collection.

War Works Commission.

Any body established for the purpose of determining the boundaries of constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or of local authorities in England or Wales.