Retention schedule

Staffordshire County Council is required by the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the Management of Records issued under Section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to have and to implement a records retention and disposal schedule.

Contents

Retention and disposal policies - Finance

Accounting and reporting

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of the financial year in which records created
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Companies Act 2006 and Value Added Tax Act 1994 s.6 and Finance Act 1998 Sch.18 pt. 3
  • Scope: Statutory, corporate and management accounts, abstracts, ledgers, budgetary control records. 

Banking administration 

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of the financial year in which records created
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Companies Act 2006 and  Value Added Tax Act 1994 s.6 and Finance Act 1998 Sch.18 pt. 3
  • Scope: Bank accounts administration including instruction and payments, bank deposits, account monitoring and reconciliation

Budgets management 

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of the financial year in which records created
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Companies Act 2006 and Value Added Tax Act 1994 s.6 and Finance Act 1998 Sch.18 pt. 3
  • Scope: Management of capital and revenue budgets  

Charities and trusts administration

  • Retention: Retain administrative records 6 years after the end of the financial year in which records created  / Retain trust deeds and charity and endowment instruments until charity, trust or endowment wound up
  • Disposal: Destroy Transfer records to Archives Service.
  • Authority: SCC Business need based on 6-year period for which annual reports and all supporting documents must be retained under Charities Act 2011 s.165 / SCC business need
  • Scope: Administration of charity, trust and endowment for which SCC acts as trustee including annual reports, deeds, instruments, winding‐up records

External funding acquisition

  • Retention: Retain records a minimum of 6 years after the end of funding period unless otherwise specified by external funding body
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Funding body requirements
  • Scope: Identification of funding opportunities and resources, development and submission of bids, management of funding resources, monitoring and reporting of outcomes to funding body Excluding grant funding administration

Financial planning

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of planning period or strategy superseded
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Companies Act 2006 and Value Added Tax Act 1994 s.6 and Finance Act 1998 Sch.18 pt. 3
  • Scope: Strategic medium and long term financial planning

Grant funding administration 

  • Retention: Retain records minimum of 6 years after end of funding or monitoring period or period specified by funding body
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: SCC Business need or funding body requirements
  • Scope: Processing and assessment of applications for grant funding, administration of funding payments, financial and outcome monitoring and reporting

Income processing

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of the financial year in which records created
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Companies Act 2006 and Value Added Tax Act 1994 s.6 and Finance Act 1998 Sch.18 pt. 3
  • Scope: Processing income received for supply of goods and services, posting slips, tabulations, income records, receipt books, debtor accounts, cash books, till rolls

Loans and leasing administration

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after end lease period or settlement of loan
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: SCC business need
  • Scope:  Processing of staff loan and leasing applications, administration of loans, repayments and leasing

Payroll administration

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of the financial year in which records created
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Taxes Management Act 1970 s.34
  • Scope:  Transactional HR records  including expenses and allowances claims, changes to pay, increments, loss of earnings, statutory and non‐statutory payments and deductions, additional hours claims redundancy payments, income tax and national insurance records

Pension fund management

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of scheme
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: The Retirement Benefits Schemes (Information Powers) Regulations 1995 s.15
  • Scope: SCC pension fund management records including fund management strategy, policy and guidance influencing decisions. Excluding accounting and reporting

Pension scheme administration

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after death of last known beneficiary of member
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: The Retirement Benefits Schemes (Information Powers) Regulations 1995 s.15
  • Scope: Records of member and employer pension contributions, member notifications administration of pension benefit  payments to scheme members, repayment of contributions to members withdrawing from scheme including copies of legislation, regulation, guidance notices, policies affecting contributions and payments (Note: documents may that may not be readily available from other sources in the long‐term)

Procurement

  • Retention: Retain unsuccessful tenders 1 year after contract award decision / Retain awarded contract records 6 years (signed – ‘simple contracts’) 12 years (under seal) 15 years (conveyancing) after end of contract, substantial completion, or end of overage or clawback period as applicable
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Retention of unsuccessful tenders – SCC business need / The authority for awarded contracts depends on the nature or value of contract   Limitation Act 1980 s.5 or Limitation Act 1980 s.8 or Limitation Act 1980 s.14B
  • Scope: Pre‐tender planning, tender process, contract award and contract management including pre‐qualification questionnaires, requests for information, invitations to tender, tender evaluation, tender negotiation, supplier approval, bids and correspondence 

Purchasing and payment processing 

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of the financial year in which records created
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Companies Act 2006 and Value Added Tax Act 1994 s.6 and Finance Act 1998 Sch.18 pt. 3
  • Scope: Orders, credit notes, creditor invoices, delivery notes, payment records, records of advances

Taxes management

  • Retention: Retain records 6 years after the end of the tax year to which records relate
  • Disposal: Destroy
  • Authority: Taxes Management Act 1970 s.34
  • Scope: Payment of collected taxes and National Insurance contributions to H.M. Revenue and Customs and claims and negotiation of refunds for e.g. overpayment Excluding transactional HR records