Ringing Forums

I sometimes wonder whether I specifically agreed to have my name in that peal record, or if I decided that this ringing lark was no longer for me, whether I would want my name still displayed in all those performances on Bellboard here.

Personally, my preference for tea and lemonade over coffee and ribena, as expressed in that NNNT-booking at that meeting, written on a piece of paper, carefully stored in an envelope and then attached to a ringbinder/database somewhere, is of less concern than my worries about GlobalWarming, the UkraineWar and RunawayInflation. Others may feel differently ... :-)

All Association records should be kept permanently, including the attendance book as this provides a record of how many attended meetings. I can't think there is any data protection issue with this.
Association records in general are often very badly looked after and can be difficult to trace. Sometimes they are deposited in the local records office, but access can be difficult. The ideal solution would be digitisation, but still keep the paper copy. I have also discovered how bad the minute recording is. There is mostly very little of any discussion recorded.

Have a look at - https://mbmcommercial.co.uk/resources/blogs/blogs/clubs-societies-and-the-gdpr-part-1.html

I agree with Sue that they should be kept permanently and the GDPR position is fine if you include that you will hold data indefinitely for historical & statistical purposes.

We should be very careful to protect our historical records.

Thanks all for your comments. Does anyone know anything about the requirement of records for safeguarding cases? Is there any guidance about how long records should be kept in case retrospective/historical safeguarding concerns are raised?

I believe it is 70 years.

Blimey. Thanks Phillip.

I don't know where the 70 years came from, and the guidance related to safeguarding record retention seems to only be relevant if there has been a SG issue, not "Should we keep this non SG data just in case someone raises a SG issue in the future". Also, note that it is a problem if you retain personal information related to SG longer than is reasonable.

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1442/child-protection-records-retention-and-storage-guidelines.pdf

istr we were told 25 years, but. I can't remember the criteria.

AS I said in my original post, I "believe" it to be 70 years. I feel I should get more accurate information for myself and others so I am waiting a reply from the diocesan SG officer. I'll share if I get a useful answer.

I was concerned that I might have given the incorrect information about records retention, so I emailed my diocese.
I am still waiting to hear but I found this on an SG document I received in July 2019. It might have changed since then.
"Please note personnel records relating to lay workers whose role involves contact with children and vulnerable adults including applications, references, disciplinary matters, job descriptions, training and termination documentation should be kept for 75 years after employment. The files should also include all documentation concerning allegations, investigations and risk assessments regardless of the findings."
If I receive a reply from the diocese I will revert.

Thank you Phillip. I look forward to finding out the definitive answer, and in the meantime I'll suggest we work with 75 years.

So are we saying that tower attendance records are "personnel records" and should be retained for 75 years?

Seems like it. The irony is that at the vast majority of the ringing at which my presence is recorded there are no minors or vulnerable adults. The rationale seems to be that the record is needed to prove that. But if we follow that line of reasoning we should be recording all aspects of our lives where we meeti other people, to prove there are none present. In fact we should probably record everything we do to prove there were not other times that we shopuld have recorded.
Maybe we should applyn the mathematical tool of reductio ad absurdum. Would that help?

Keeping records of attendance for all ringing gatherings in a retrievable form for 75 years that looks to be something of a non-trivial exercise.

I have finally heard from my diocese about SG records retention and they sent me this document which they claim as being the latest issue. (see from page 3).

most of that is about concerns,a.legations, etc. The only thing relevant to our recent discussion is 'records of children's activities'. One could infer if a child is present at ringing ghen it becomes a 'children's activity', but ringing with no children present clearly isn't (unless you follow the argument that you have to record everything that everyone does in order to prove that children weren't there.

I think the main table on page 4 is relevant too. "Personnel records etc..." which are 75 years, and "Disclosing and barring...etc

Yes, relevant to safeguarding in general, but the responsibility for keeping reasonable things like records of DBS clearances is down to the church rather than the ringers. I was responding to the earlier comment about attendance records, which are in the first instance at least help by ringers, and whose retention for extreme lengths of time is more onerous.