Policy setting out which Chapel records should be retained following the review of occupation, access, keys, and continuing community use.
1. Purpose
This schedule sets out which Chapel records should be retained and for how long.
It has been adopted following recent correspondence regarding occupation and use of the Chapel, during which it became clear that informal memory is not always sufficient evidence of what has happened.
2. General Rule
Records should be kept where they may later show:
- Who had access.
- What was agreed.
- What was used.
- What was spent.
- What was repaired.
- Who attended.
- Whether the Chapel was in ordinary community use.
If there is doubt, the record should be retained until the Committee has reviewed it.
3. Permanent Retention
The following should be kept permanently:
- Constitutions and governance documents.
- Council correspondence.
- Records concerning occupation, possession, access, or community use.
- Committee minutes.
- Key registers.
- Historic Chapel papers.
- Significant inspection and maintenance records.
- Major complaints and replies.
- Archive catalogues.
- Photographs, notices, and documents of historic interest.
No permanent record should be disposed of because it appears old, inconvenient, duplicated in someone’s memory, or stored in a box needed for another purpose.
4. Seven-Year Retention
The following should be kept for at least seven years:
- Accounts and financial summaries.
- Receipts and invoices.
- Booking records.
- Routine correspondence.
- Attendance summaries.
- Event records.
- Accident or incident notes.
- Minor repair records.
5. Current-Use Records
The following should be kept while current and then reviewed:
- Rotas.
- Contact lists.
- Opening arrangements.
- Visitor guidance.
- Cleaning notes.
- Draft agendas.
- Temporary notices.
- Lists of items awaiting collection or return.
Superseded versions may be retained where they explain a later decision, disagreement, or change of practice.
6. Disposal
The following may be disposed of once no longer required:
- Duplicate blank forms.
- Spoiled printouts.
- Superseded drafts with no decisions recorded on them.
- Illegible scraps not connected to any known matter.
- Empty envelopes with no useful date, sender, or contents.
- Refreshment shopping lists, unless connected to expenditure, complaint, shortage, or substitution.
Disposal should be carried out with proper care where personal, financial, or sensitive information is present.
7. Storage
Records should be kept dry, labelled, and in date order where possible.
They should not be stored near damp walls, cleaning fluids, food, kettles, urns, or other avoidable sources of damage.
Temporary storage should not become permanent due to laziness.
8. Computer Records
Computer records should be printed or otherwise retained where they relate to Chapel business.
This includes:
- Website files.
- Typed minutes.
- Email correspondence.
- Scanned records.
- Digital photographs.
- Floppy disks, CD-ROMs, or other storage media containing Chapel material.
Important records should not exist only on one person’s home computer.
9. Sensitive Information
Records containing personal information should be handled carefully.
They should not be displayed publicly unless suitable for public reference.
Where necessary, the Committee may retain the full record privately and publish a summary.
10. Review
Stored records should be reviewed at least once a year.
The review should identify records to retain, archive, relabel, copy, repair, or dispose of.
A record whose purpose is unclear should be retained until its purpose has been established or the Committee has agreed disposal.
11. Committee Note
Records form part of the Chapel’s evidence of ordinary use.
They may be needed to answer Council questions, explain decisions, prove attendance, verify expenditure, and show that the Chapel remains a community asset. They should therefore be kept properly.
