RECORDS MANAGEMENT BYLAW & POLICY

RECORDS MANAGEMENT BYLAW & POLICY

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that Records Management Bylaw No. 879, 2013 be given three readings;

AND THAT the Committee recommend to Council that Policy 0100-039 Records Management be approved.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER'S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To the present the Records Management Bylaw and Records Management Policy to the Committee of the Whole for support.

TIME CRITICAL:

It is important to proceed with a bylaw and policy to strengthen procedures around the Town's records. A records management program will ensure that staff are aware of their responsibility towards records, establish corporate standards, introduce procedures, and institute support and auditing practices to ensure a program exists that mitigates risks related to the ad hoc management of records.

BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:

For a number of years, the Town has been moving towards a more formalized record keeping system. To aid in that organizational improvement, staff have drafted a bylaw and accompanying policy which are based on the Local Government Management Association's recommended best practices and municipal records classification system (see Schedules "A" and "B" respectively). The LGMA's groundwork for all municipalities in British Columbia has been vetted to ensure that provincial and federal legislation requirements are met and the system effectively supports municipal record keeping needs.

Together the bylaw and policy create a formalized program which includes guidelines and standards to support effective records management principles. As records are a vital resource – invaluable for disaster recovery; capture of the corporate memory; and provide both litigation support and evidence of decisions – their proper management must be ensured.

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:

None

ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATION(S):

Council could choose not to proceed with adoption of the bylaw and approval of the policy which would lead to record management issues in the long run as well as file storage problems in the near term as no records would be able to be disposed of.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that Records Management Bylaw No. 879, 2013 be given three readings;

AND THAT the Committee recommend to Council that Policy 0100-039 Records Management be approved.

SUBMITTED BY:
S. Jones, Director of Corporate Administration

REVIEWED BY:
K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer