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National accreditation for Flintshire Record Office

Published: 29/07/2015

Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism Ken Skates has presented Flintshire Record Office with its Archive Service Accreditation. It is the first archive service in North Wales to achieve this notable professional standard. Accredited Archive Services ensure the long-term collection, preservation and accessibility of our archive heritage. Accreditation is the new UK quality standard which recognises good performance in all areas of archive service delivery. Achieving accredited status demonstrates that Flintshire Record Office has met clearly defined national standards relating to management and resourcing the care of its unique collections and what the service offers to its entire range of users. The Record Office has provided an archive service to Flintshire since the 1950s and preserves not only County Council records but records of local businesses, churches, schools, landed estates, and many more. It was one of the earlier record offices to be established in Wales and has always been noted for its quality of service. Councillor Chris Bithell, Cabinet Member for Education and Youth said: “We are delighted to be the first archive service in North Wales to achieve accredited status. At a time of great change in local government we are pleased to be able to stand up and be counted as maintaining quality and commitment to the service we offer to Flintshire and to posterity”. The Archive Service Accreditation assessors noted that Flintshire Record Office’s performance showed strong service delivery in all areas. Particularly singled out for praise were: the service’s commitment to achieving and retaining Accreditation in the long term; the well-planned and effective use of volunteers to feed into service development and the service’s admirable record in conservation, supporting wider professional training and development and making possible regional improvements. Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism Ken Skates said, Congratulations to Flintshire Record Office on being the first archive service in North Wales to achieve the Archive Service Accreditation. The staff of the archive service work extremely hard to provide a high standard of care for the archive collections and an excellent service to their users. They should be very proud of this achievement. Details of the Record Office can be found on the Councils website at www.flintshire.gov.uk/archives Note to editors Pictured in the attached photograph below with the Acceditation Award are (l to r); Cllr. Aaron Shotton, Leader of Flintshire County Council, Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism Ken Skates, Claire Harrington, Principal Archivist and Cllr. Kevin Jones, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Leisure. Pictured in the attached photograph below are (l to r):Colin Everett, Chief Executive, Claire Harrington, Principal Archivist, Cllr. Kevin Jones, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Leisure, Neil Cockerton, Chif Officer Organisational Change, Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Culture,Sport and Tourism Ken Skates, Cllr. Aaron Shotton, Leader of Flintshire County Council and Cllr. Clive Carver, ward member for Hawarden.