Mr. Robert Watt:

We work with the National Archives as we have a responsibility as a public body under the National Archives Act to maintain proper public records and to make them available to the archivist under the various rules. An issue has arisen as we move from a purely paper-based system to one which is paper-based and electronic and then on to a system which will ultimately be almost entirely electronic. We are between the latter two stages now. More and more records are electronic rather than on paper. The position in the past was that if one got an electronic record, one printed it off and put it on a file which would go to the archives. In future, everything will be recorded electronically. Any physical copy will be scanned to become an electronic record and the physical copy will be destroyed, unless it is a legal document such as a deed. We are working with the archivist on this and we have a very significant project linked to the build-to-share matter I spoke about earlier where all record-keeping will be electronic record-keeping. We will no longer have paper records in Government Departments. However, there is a danger. We are very conscious in moving from paper records now of the need to ensure the electronic records are kept for future generations. There is a danger there, which other countries are also facing. As such, we are working with the National Archives on this.