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POLICY
REGION OF WINDSOR AND WEST HANTS MUNICIPALITY
RCOGE-002.00
RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY
Region of Windsor and West Hants Municipality
Page 1 of 4
Records Management Policy RCOGE-002.00
1.
TITLE
This Policy may be cited as the "Records Management Policy."
2.
AUTHORITY
Municipal Government Act, Section 34 (1 - 4), allows council to adopt a policy for
the management and destruction of records.
3.
PURPOSE
3.1
To establish effective management control and administration over the
receipt, creation, use, maintenance, storage, and ultimate disposition of all
information, regardless of format, and to do so in a manner that is user-
friendly and tailored to meet user needs.
3.2
To support compliance with the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and other
Provincial Acts and Regulations.
3.3
To designate responsibilities and accountability for the management of
municipal information, regardless of format.
3.4
Ensure records management functions are incorporated into existing and
future information technology applications.
3.5
Reduce response burden on the public by eliminating unnecessary collection
of information, and to ensure the collection of any personal information is in
accordance with the MGA.
3.6
Ensure all information resources, regardless of format, are subject to timely
public access according to provisions and limitations of the MGA.
4.
INTERPRETATION
In this Policy:
4.1
"Council" means the council of the Region of Windsor and West Hants
Municipality;
4.2
"Designated Officers" means the persons designated and authorized by the
Chief Administrative Officer of the Municipality, to act on behalf of the
Municipality to manage and maintain the Records Management System;
4.3
"Electronic document / electronic record" is described as data that is recorded
or stored on any medium in or by a computer system or other similar device
and that can be read or interpreted by a person or a computer system on other
similar devices and includes a display, printout or other output of that data,
other than a printout And further refers to documents or records that have
been created, used and stored in digital medium, using computer hardware
and software as well as human intelligence to create, modify, store, access
and retrieve the documents. Hard copies can also be converted into digital
records by scanning;
POLICY
REGION OF WINDSOR AND WEST HANTS MUNICIPALITY
RCOGE-002.00
RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY
Region of Windsor and West Hants Municipality
Page 2 of 4
Records Management Policy RCOGE-002.00
4.4
"Manual" means the Nova Scotia Association of Municipal Administrators
Records Management Manual, third edition, as amended from time to time;
4.5
"Municipality" means the Region of Windsor and West Hants Municipality (or
name of the Regional Municipality given as per Section 11 of the Region of
Windsor and West Hants Municipality Act), effective April 1, 2020;
4.6
"Original record(s)" includes an electronic document/electronic record, and
paper copy of a record;
4.7
"Record(s)" include books, documents, electronic documents/electronic
records, maps, drawings, photographs, letters, vouchers, papers and any
other thing on which information is recorded or stored by graphic, electronic,
mechanical or other means, and may include data within a computer
program or any other data created by a mechanism that produces records;
4.8
"Records Management System" means an electronic or paper-based system
used by the Municipality to manage the records of the Municipality from record
creation through to records disposal.
5.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ESTABLISHED
5.1
The Records Management System as shown in the Manual by the Nova Scotia
Association of Municipal Administrators is established and authorized for use
by the Municipality.
6.
COMPLIANCE WITH RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
6.1
All records and electronic documents in the custody and control of the
Municipality are the property of the Municipality and the records must comply
with the Records Management System, Manual and this Policy and may
constitute as original records.
7.
DESIGNATED OFFICER
7.1
The Designated Officers are responsible for the management and maintenance
of the Records Management System. The Designated Officers may also
develop administrative policies and procedures so as to manage and maintain
an effective and efficient system (i.e. coding/numbering of policies, title
formatting for ease of retrieval, etc).
8.
ADOPTION OF THE MANUAL
8.1
Records of the Municipality must be created, accessed, maintained and
disposed of only as provided by the Manual. The Manual includes a Records
Retention Schedule that prescribes the period of time that records are kept to
meet the operational, legal, regulatory, financial or other requirements of the
Municipality. The Records Retention Schedule also provides instructions as to
the manner and time of the disposition of a record.
POLICY
REGION OF WINDSOR AND WEST HANTS MUNICIPALITY
RCOGE-002.00
RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY
Region of Windsor and West Hants Municipality
Page 3 of 4
Records Management Policy RCOGE-002.00
9.
INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTICITY MAINTAINED
9.1
The Records Management System must maintain the integrity and authenticity
of records made or kept in the usual and ordinary course of business.
10
AUTHORIZATION TO AMEND MANUAL
10.1 The Designated Officers are authorized to amend the Manual for particular use
by the Municipality.
11.
DISPOSAL BY DESIGNATED OFFICER
11.1 When the Designated Officers determine that the retention period for a given
record described in the Records Retention Schedule has ended, the Designated
Officer may allow the record to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of in
accordance with the instructions outlined in the Records Retention Schedule
and in consultation with stakeholders within the organization as detailed
below:
(a)
The destruction actions must always be authorized, allowing for a record
destruction to be stopped if specific issues such as a government
investigation, audit, freedom of information access request, litigation or
legal claim require the record to be kept. A records destruction approval
form as created and approved by the Designated Officer will be used for
all records to be destroyed;
(b)
Records pertaining to any actual or pending government investigation,
audit, freedom of information access request, litigation or legal claim
will not be destroyed. Such record will be held until the action is
complete and then kept in accordance with the Manual;
(c)
Records destruction should be undertaken in a manner that preserves
the confidentiality of records, including the privacy of information about
individuals;
(d)
All copies of records that are authorized for destruction, including
security, preservation and backup copies, should be destroyed as soon
as reasonably possible;
(e)
Destruction of paper records should occur on-site and services provided
by a shredding and/or recycling company;
(f)
Destruction of electronic records stored in a repository will be presented
in a report and deleted;
(g)
A record of destruction will be permanently kept stating the records
destroyed, date of destruction and if available a certificate of destruction
from the service provider.
11.2 Records that are required by any enactment to be kept, and all minutes, by-
laws, policies and resolutions of Council will not be destroyed.