Policy paper

Companies House records appraisal and selection policy

Published 5 December 2024

1. Purpose of this policy and legislative framework

Companies House is a public record authority. This means we must identify records of historical value for permanent preservation at the relevant archives. This policy sets out how we’ll meet our statutory obligations under the Public Records Act 1958.

Read more about Companies House.

Selection is a decision making process. After an appraisal process, Companies House will select records of historic value, and then:

• sensitively review them
• prepare them
• transfer them to the relevant archives or approved place of deposit by the time they’re 20 years old

This applies to records in all formats and media, including paper and digital records. 

Companies House may remove selected records relating to dissolved companies to the Public Record Office, or the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland. This follows section 1084 of the Companies Act 2006.

2. Appraisal and selection process

We base appraisal decisions on:  

• how long we need to keep the records for our own legal, accountability or reference purposes (organisational value)

• whether the records should be destroyed or kept permanently for archival purposes (archival value)

2.1 Organisational value

Organisational value focuses on the:

• needs and obligations of Companies House
• records as information assets

Organisational value is about value for accountability, legal or reference purposes. It includes protection of the legal and other rights of Companies House and those we deal with, and compliance with whatever regulatory framework applies.  

We determine organisational value by considering:  

• the importance of the function that the records support
• what individual parts of the organisation (‘business units’) say about their need for continued access to the records, including the risks of not having this access 
• the importance of the records for protecting the interests and legal rights of the organisation and those we deal with
• any legal or regulatory requirements – even if they do not specify how long records must be kept, they may include relevant things like liability thresholds
• the requirements of anybody with a right to audit the organisation
• any accepted standards or best practice for the sector 
• the relationship between the records and other related records and the data or evidence they provide

2.2  Archival value

Archival value is about value for:

• corporate memory purposes
• historical or cultural purposes

Often, records which need to be preserved because of their organisational value also have archival value. 

The National Archives (TNA) gives guidance for government departments on which records have archival value and should be selected for permanent preservation.

Their criteria includes records that document the:

• principal policies and actions of the UK central government and English and Welsh governments
• structures and decision making process in government
• state’s interaction with the lives of its citizens
• state’s interaction with the physical environment

 The Companies House selection policy is based on these criteria.

In line with TNA’s criteria, Companies House selects and transfers selected key internal departmental records for permanent preservation at TNA, including:

• main board papers
• policy papers
• significant project and programme papers

We also select and transfer a selection of dissolved company records for permanent preservation at the relevant archive under section 1084 of the Companies Act 2006. 

We transfer England and Wales dissolved company records to TNA. We transfer Northern Ireland dissolved company records to the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland. 

Section 1084 of the Companies Act 2006 does not apply to Scotland. UK public bodies operating wholly or mainly in Scotland may transfer their records to the National Records of Scotland rather than TNA.

Companies House may transmit these records to NRS under sections 3(8) and 12(1) of the Public Records Act 1958. 

After the appraisal process, we select records deemed to be of archival value and transferred to the relevant archive for permanent preservation, in keeping with TNA’s Operational Selection Policy.

3. Selection policy

Companies House uses this selection policy to select records of archival value for preservation, based on TNA’s criteria.

3.1 Records documenting the principal policies and actions of UK government

This could include records:

• of policy decisions that had a significant impact on UK or international events and conditions where Companies House was the lead (held by policy or strategy and planning teams)
• that show the development of primary legislation where Companies House was the lead - for example, work on bills, acts, notes on clauses, policy working groups or committees (held by policy team)
• that show the development of secondary legislation where Companies House was the lead - for example, work on statutory instruments (held by policy team)
• showing how legislation was implemented where Companies House was the lead (held by policy or strategy and planning teams)
• of decisions that affected the way Companies House conducted its core functions - for example, that set a precedent or impacted wider political developments (held by secretariat, policy or programme and project management teams)

3.2 Records documenting the structures and decision making process in government

This could include:

• recorded minutes and circulated papers of major departmental bodies, major interdepartmental committees and other bodies for which Companies House supplied the secretary or holds the main set of papers - for example, main board papers (held by secreteriat team)
• records that show the dissolution, creation or merger of departments or agencies - for example, historic records on the registry’s move from London to Cardiff, or Companies House as an agency (held by secreteriat or policy teams)
• records of discussions or actions where a secretary of state or minister was involved (held by policy or legal teams)
• records reflecting the creation or development of key departmental functions or structures - for example, new teams for new processes (held by strategy and planning team)

3.3 Records documenting the state’s interaction with the lives of its citizens

This could include records that illustrate a significant event, person or group, that:

• led to a change in policy
• set a precedent
• caused controversy

These records would normally be held by our policy team.

3.4 Records documenting the state’s interaction with the physical environment

This could include records:

• that document the impact of policies or proposals on the natural environment (held by estates or policy teams)
• of significant natural or manufactured events that led to a change in policy or set a precedent (held by policy team)

3.5 Statutory documents

This could include:

• dissolved company records, as required by the Companies Act 2006 and the Public Records Act 1958 (held by IT, repository or policy teams)
• annual reports, as required by the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (held by policy or communications teams)

4. Records not selected for permanent preservation

We’ll destroy most business records that we do not select for permanent preservation at TNA or a place of deposit. We’ll do this in accordance with the relevant business disposal schedule and section 3(6) of the Public Records Act.

Records we may destroy could include:

• business administrative records – financial, personnel, estates and health and safety records
• records or information captured elsewhere or already preserved at TNA
• records published by Companies House on GOV.UK, if they’re captured fully into the UK government web archive
• records that are already in the public domain
• records where Companies House is not the lead department, and the records have already been captured by department which led the work

There may be circumstances where we consider records in these categories for permanent preservation. For example, high-profile cases where Companies House is not the lead but has records of archival value that the lead department does not have.