Archives for Everyone 2023-27
The National Archives’ strategic priorities
nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-for-everyone

This is our vision:
The National Archives is an essential resource for our democracy, a public good
and an asset for future generations. Our conviction is that archives are foreveryone, and that archives change lives for the better.
In April 2019 we committed The National Archives to a transformative path, tobecoming the 21st Century national archive – inclusive, entrepreneurial, anddisruptive.
In the four years since, much has changed in the world, and we have changed
too. We have found new ways of working, new ways of reaching people, and wehave become still more important to the life of the nation as a source ofmemory, evidence, and public value.
Throughout this time of change our historic mission has endured: to collect andpreserve the record, to use our expertise and knowledge to connect people with
their history through our unrivalled collections, and to lead, partner and support
archives at home and worldwide. Our commitment to this mission is undimmed
and we continue to embrace the obligation this creates: to connect with thebiggest and most diverse audience possible, in the most innovative ways we can.
Since 2019 The National Archives has withstood the sternest of tests. Staying
true to the principles we set out in Archives for Everyone enabled us to adapt andmeet the challenges of the pandemic, holding to our mission without sacrificing
our ambition for the institution or compromising our belief that archives are foreveryone because they are about everyone - past, present and future.
In 2023 we reaffirm our commitment to this vision: to the transformation of The
National Archives to meet the present-day challenges of our historic mission, to acreative approach to these challenges, pioneering a new kind of cultural andheritage institution, and to making good on our unique promise and potential.

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These are our principles:
We will be the Inclusive Archive
Building trust and tearing down barriers to access, participation andunderstanding. Harnessing talent from diverse backgrounds.
Bold, active and outward-looking - encountered by people and communities inunexpected places and at vital moments.
The Inclusive Archive is about who we are, who we serve, how we work and, ascustodians of a collection of international significance, our global role.
We will be the Entrepreneurial Archive
Creating and realising value at home and across the globe. Operating flexibly andfearlessly, adept at finding and exploiting commercial, research andphilanthropic funding opportunities - opening out and promoting our collection.
The Entrepreneurial Archive is ever-alert to new possibilities, partnerships andcollaborations and adventurous in pursuing them.
We will be the Disruptive Archive
Constantly adapting, rethinking and reshaping our practice to meet ourcontemporary and future challenges. Developing new skills and exploiting
emerging technology, reaffirming and transforming our historic mission for thedigital age, from creation to presentation.
The Disruptive Archive solves problems. It moves quickly and it moves things
forwards.

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This is where we’re going:
In 2038 we will celebrate the bicentenary of the founding of the Public Record
Office. As an institution we have a long history, and that history is one of regularchange and renewal, but our response to the challenges and opportunities
ahead of us will transform The National Archives more profoundly than at any
point in the last two centuries. By 2038, if the transformation we have embarked
on is complete, we will be:••••

A living digital national archive preserving the contemporary record ofgovernment and radically widening access to the historic archive
A national archive not just of government but of the state – preserving andmaking accessible the record of the executive, legislature and judiciary
A genuinely inclusive, collaborative and available national archive - anactive, catalysing presence wherever we’re encountered
A demonstrably sustainable national archive, leading the archives sector
both through our expertise and by example

The National Archives is, by virtue of our mission, a living, growing repository ofevidence, stories and memory. We care for and make available to the publicrecords that aid legal certainty, shed light on personal and shared histories andinform our collective national identity. Our fulfilment of that mission maintains
and adds value for present and future generations – value from our collection,from the connections to it we foster and from our role as custodian both of thecollection and of the institution that supports it.
Our priorities then for the next four years must focus on sustaining andmaximising our value and impact as a national archive, and the value and impactof archives more widely.

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This is what we need to do next - our goals for 2023-27:
Building the value of our Collection
We will grow the collection, its accessibility and utility.
Over the next four years we will begin a new era in the history of our collection.
We will be accessioning near-contemporary digital records at scale, bringing theParliamentary Archives together with the archive of Government and completingthe single biggest transfer in our history – the historical records of around 10million service personnel.
Key outcomes:••••

Exponential year-on-year growth of the digital archive, underpinned by a
new holistic service and support offer to government and the courts
Completed transfer of the 15 linear km Parliamentary Archives collection
with successful integration of the staff and services supporting it
Completed transfer of around 10 million service personnel records, with
an effective access service offer in place
A new collection policy informed by inclusive archival practice.

Creating value through Connection
We will open up bigger and better opportunities to connect with the collection
for everyone, everywhere.
Over the next four years we will develop further our ability to connect people
with our collection in person, online and crucially, through education at all levels,research and scholarship. In each of these settings we will grow the number ofpeople who encounter and benefit from the experience of archives.
Key outcomes:•

Increased in-person connections, promoting equity of access to ourcollections at Kew and across the country, with:o an overall increase in visitors by more than 50%
o doubling of participants in our learning programmes
o a new regional learning programme, initially reaching up to 10,000
students per yearo a new touring exhibition programme4••••

Stronger online connections, making it easier for more people toencounter our content and offering them a more accessible and satisfying
experience when they do, putting us on track for a ‘tenfold in ten years’
increase in visitor numbers to our digital services
Growing connections in schools, with a 10% year-on-year increase on the
3.3 million connections we already make through our taught onsite andonline sessions and through our online resources for teachers
Greater global connections through widened access to collections ofsignificant international interest, including those representing sharedarchival heritage
Enhanced research connections, supporting more high-impact research
especially where our collection has relevance.

Sustaining value through CustodianshipEver mindful of our historic role, we will invest in the skills, capability andinfrastructure needed to support our mission over the long-term
Over the next four years we will continue to invest time, thought and resource into
the long-term sustainability of our work and that of the sector we lead. This will
include, in the first year, a completed business case for a new regional location tocomplement our Kew headquarters.
Key outcomes:•••••

A completed business case for and significant progress towards a second,regional location
Sustainable infrastructure in place to support the growth of our collection
as we become the archive of the state
Upgraded legacy infrastructure to protect and sustain the collection
Reduced preservation risk for digital public records wherever they are heldA refreshed version of Archives Unlocked – the Government’s vision forarchives.

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