HL Deb 08 April 1987 vol 486 cc1029-32
The Chairman of Committees

My Lords, I beg to move that the Report of the Select Committee on Sound Archives be agreed to. Perhaps I may say a brief word of explanation about this report. When the House agreed to the sound broadcasting of its proceedings in 1977, it was decided that only a selection of the resulting sound tapes should be preserved for the archives and it was proposed to institute a process of selection every six months after the end of a parliamentary Session. That has not taken place and all the tapes have in fact been kept, as has been the case with the tapes made in another place.

Recently both Houses have received an offer from the National Sound Archive to house these tapes, and the Broadcasting Committee recommends acceptance of this offer. Accordingly, this report seeks your Lordships' agreement to amend the original resolution of 28th July 1977 and to accept the memorandum of agreement with the National Sound Archive. My Lords, I beg to move.

Moved, That the Report of the Select Committee on Sound Archives be agreed to. [1st Report, H.L. 95]—(The Chairman of Committees.)

Lord Ferrier

My Lords, as one who has been concerned with the reporting of Parliament over the years, may I ask whether the storing of these archives will commence from July 1977 or later?

The Chairman of Committees

My Lords, it will indeed start from the very beginning of the sound broadcasting.

The report was as follows:

Sound Archives

When the House agreed to the sound broadcasting of its proceedings, it passed a Resolution on 28th July 1977 to govern the conditions under which sound broadcasting might be undertaken. Among the terms of the Resolution was the following requirement: "Archive tapes of all signals supplied by the broadcasting authorities shall be made, together with a selection for permanent preservation, under the direction of the Committee". Thus it became a duty of the Sound Broadcasting Committee, the predecessor of this Committee, to oversee the making of a selection from among the archive tapes for permanent preservation. The Joint Committee on Sound Broadcasting (whose report was the basis on which the sound broadcasting of the proceedings of both Houses was undertaken) had recommended that the selection process should begin about six months after the end of each Parliamentary session. It is now over nine years since the sound broadcasting of proceedings of the House of Lords began but no selection of archive tapes has yet been undertaken. At a meeting in November 1985, the Sound Broadcasting Committee considered the question of selection. They were told that the Clerk of the Records had concluded that no system of selection was worth considering unless it led to the preservation of only 10 per cent. of all the tapes. They were also told that the informal joint committee on Library and Record Office Storage Accommodation under the chairmanship of Lord Trend had recommended that decisions on the question of selection should be reached urgently because of the demands on space as the archive grew each year. The Committee learned that the House of Commons' Sound Broadcasting Committee had already decided against any proposals for selection. This decision weighed particularly heavily with the Committee since it would be clearly undesirable for the House of Lords to destroy the majority of its sound tapes while the House of Commons preserved its archive tapes in their entirety. Following the November 1985 meeting, an approach was made to the National Sound Archive to see if there was a way in which the sound archives of both Houses could be preserved in their entirety, without creating imposible demands on storage within the Parliamentary precinct. The result of these discussions is now contained in the memorandum of agreement which is attached as an annex to this report. This lays down the basis on which the sound archives could be transferred on a regular basis from the Sound Archive Unit to the National Sound Archive. The Committee have considered the memorandum of agreement and recommended it to the House as a suitable arrangement under which the National Sound Archive should store the bulk of the Lords sound archive. They understand that the House of Commons Sound Broadcasting Committee have also endorsed the memorandum of agreement. In the new circumstances, in which the storage of the earlier tapes can be transferred to the National Sound Archive (if the House agrees) and with the likelihood that technology will make possible the storage of sound on much smaller units than at present, the Committee recommend to the House that a policy of selection should now be abandoned. It would indeed be a formidable task for any committee to decide which tapes should be retained and which should be destroyed. If the House agrees that no selection of archive tapes should be made, both the House and the Committee would be in breach of the Resolution of 28th July 1977 which requires a selection to be made. The Committee therefore recommend that the Resolution of 28th July 1977 should be amended by the deletion in paragraph 4 of the words "together with a selection for permanent preservation".

ANNEX

HOUSE OF LORDS AND NATIONAL SOUND ARCHIVE

Memorandum of Agreement on the Archiving and Production of Parliamentary Sound Recordings

There are four main areas in which agreement is required:—

  1. 1. Storage
  2. 2. Preservation
  3. 3. Production
  4. 4. Timing
1. Storage The National Sound Archive will undertake to store those sound recordings which antedate an agreed rolling date being 7 years previous (and are thus transferred to them), in such a way as to ensure that they are secure and reasonably guarded from atmospheric or other conditions which would tend to accelerate their deterioration. More specifically, the recordings would be housed either in the Exhibition Road/Princes Gate premises, which would be the case for those of more recent date, or in one of the other storage vaults sited in London and utilised by the NSA. At the present, this would be either Micawber Street or Belsize Park. The recordings would be subject to the same kind of archival conditions as regards the monitoring of temperature and humidity as apply to the NSA's existing collections. The NSA would undertake to provide this accommodation without charge to the participants. Transfer to NSA storage will be made by annual increments in the first month of the calendar year. The Parliamentary Sound Archive undertakes to make available with each batch of recordings copies of any relevant finding aids, including Hansard, that it may possess. Transport arrangements for this material would be handled by the Parliamentary Sound Archive. 2. Preservation The National Sound Archive undertakes to store the recordings in such a way as to minimise deterioration and thus the cost of preservation. It will therefore physically, and if necessary, chemically, inspect the recordings from time to time to ensure that they receive treatment when appropriate. The NSA has permission to make such preservation copies in either analogue or digital form of the recordings, as it may deem necessary at any juncture, but it will inform the Parliamentary Sound Archive of any action taken. The Parliamentary Sound Archive will continue to give due consideration to archival factors in its selection of tape types for its recordings. It will also ensure that during the first period and before transfer, no tapes are permitted to be used to the point where their audio quality is appreciably deteriorated. To this end, the Parliamentary Sound Archive will consider using a system of recording each usage so that it can automatically make a copy of any tape coming under pressure. More than 15 uses might be a suitable maximum without a preservation copy being made. 3. Production (for Listening Services and the Provision of Transcribed Copies) The National Sound Archive undertakes to produce for listening purposes the recordings emanating from the last three years of transfer on the same day as the request is received. Normally the interval between the receipt of a request and production will be a matter of minutes or hours at the most. In the case of requests for material earlier than the last three years of the transferred recordings, the NSA undertakes to produce the recording within 48 hours, at the worst. Normally, it will do so within 24 hours. The NSA will make available to any enquirer, as well as to present authorised users, any of the requested recordings for listening purposes only on its premises. For this, no reference will be made to the Parliamentary Sound Archive but a record of such usage will be provided to it once a month. In the case of all requests for transcribed copies, the NSA will refer the enquiry to the Parliamentary Sound Archive for clearance of the request. Once the written assent of the Parliamentary Sound Archive has been received to the request or verification has been telephoned to the NSA by the Parliamentary Sound Archive and duly logged, such verification to be confirmed in writing as soon as possible, the NSA will provide a transcribed copy on an appropriate carrier within five working days. This will invariably be the case with requests not exceeding one reel. In the case of requests of greater extent, the NSA will furnish the required copies as soon as can reasonably be achieved. Where faster times of production are essential—as often is the case with broadcasting organisations—the NSA reserves the right to charge the extra costs incurred in meeting the client's requirements. However, the NSA will not charge those wishing to listen to recordings on its own premises but will operate a scale of charges to be agreed with the Parliamentary Sound Archive on all requests for copies. In the case of requests for listening purposes and for transcribed copies received by the Parliamentary Sound Archive in respect of material held by the NSA, these will be proposed to the latter with a note of clearance and when it is required that transcribed copies are to be collected from, or distributed by, the Parliamentary Sound Archive, they should be sent to the latter, transport arrangements being organised by the Parliamentary Sound Archive. After use, they will be returned to the NSA as soon as possible. Both parties accept that these arrangements, which are based upon an estimated scale of usage—itself derived from recent experience—will likely require amendment and adjustment in the light of actual demand. At the present juncture, the NSA does not anticipate that the costs of operating the service will require it to levy any charge upon the House. For copies it will expect to charge upon an agreed scale, a figure which will genuinely defray its actual costs in materials and labour. The NSA will provide listening access to these recordings to all who request permission for such access, whether they be Peers, officers of the House or general public. In the event of there being any recordings transferred which require limitations to be imposed upon access to them, the House of Lords undertakes so to inform the NSA and the NSA agrees to restrict this material accordingly. In the case of copies that may be ordered, it will be deemed that the approval given by the Parliamentary Sound Archive accurately reflects the wishes to the House and that the NSA is under no obligation to make further enquiries before furnishing the requested copies. 4. Timing It is the intention of both parties that this agreement is initiated in 1987. The agreement would run for five years in the first instance and then be quinquennially renewable. Both parties will continue to investigate—and adopt as appropriate—improvements coming from the advance of technology which tend towards the more efficient and economical discharge of their operations. To this end, the NSA will investigate the advantages or otherwise of a landline link between its premises and the Parliamentary Sound Archive. Similarly, the House will bear in mind, when modernisation of the House recording equipment occurs, the possibility of switching to a digital audio standard compatible with that adopted by the NSA. The archival advantages of reduced costs and easier restoration make this a desirable course.

On Question, Motion agreed to.