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Non-ministerial department overview | |
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Formed | April 2003 |
Jurisdiction | England and Wales, HM Government |
Headquarters | Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU 51°28′52″N 0°16′46″W / 51.48111°N 0.27944°W |
Employees | 590[1]: 66 |
Annual budget | ![]() |
Ministers responsible |
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Non-ministerial department executive |
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Parent department | Department for Culture, Media and Sport |
Child agencies |
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Key document | |
Website | nationalarchives |
The National Archives (TNA; Welsh: Yr Archifau Cenedlaethol) is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom.[3] Its parent department is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[4] It is the official national archive of the UK Government and for England and Wales; and "guardian of some of the nation's most iconic documents, dating back more than 1,000 years."[5] There are separate national archives for Scotland (the National Records of Scotland) and Northern Ireland (the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland).
TNA was formerly four separate organisations: the Public Record Office (PRO), the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). The Public Record Office still exists as a legal entity, as the enabling legislation has not been modified,[6][7] and documents held by the institution thus continue to be cited by many scholars as part of the PRO.[8] Since 2008, TNA has also hosted the former UK Statute Law Database, now known as legislation.gov.uk.
The department is the responsibility of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth; a minister in His Majesty's Government.[9]