TMCP and the Connexional Team are pleased to announce that the Retention Schedule was updated in January 2024. (This important document is a table listing all the different types of records commonly held by Local Churches, Circuits and Districts. It confirms how long to keep each type of record and what to do at the end of the retention period.) The up-to-date version is available on the Methodist Church in Great Britain’s website from the Archivists page. (If you have accessed the link from the Data Protection pages on the TMCP Website since the Schedule was updated, the link will have automatically taken you to the most up-to-date version.)
TMCP’s data protection specialists together with the Connexional Data Protection Officer, have worked closely with the Connexional Liaison Officer for Methodist Archives to further update the Retention Schedule, add additional guidance and reorganise the tables to make it easier to find the retention rules applying to different types of records.
As with the previous versions of this important data protection resource, the revised Retention Schedule is intended to provide practical assistance for Ministers, church officers, and volunteer archivists who are involved in managing records on behalf of Local Churches, Circuits and Districts.
CCTV Images
Please note the information in the Retention Schedule about retaining CCTV images. This is now included in the last row of Sections 1.11, 2.11 and 3.11 of the tables for Local Church, Circuit and District records respectively. The Retention Schedule confirms that images should be destroyed/ deleted after a maximum period of 90 days or such shorter period as may be specified in your local CCTV Policy.
Please be aware that if you have CCTV at your premises, there are specific rules surrounding operating CCTV in accordance with data protection legislation. There are steps to take before installing cameras and rules to adhere to once they are in place. These include appropriate signage, carrying out an assessment to ensure the advantages outweigh the inherent risks to the rights and freedoms of individuals and adopting a CCTV policy setting out how the CCTV will be managed.
To help Managing Trustees, a template policy (Template CCTV Policy) has been drafted. Guidance and the preliminary steps are set out on the first page of the template policy. The Template CCTV Policy is available from the “Trustee Documents” tab on the Data Protection pages of the TMCP website. If you do not have the password to access this document, contact TMCP via the Contact page to request the password and confirm who you are/your role in the Church. Please either adapt the Template CCTV Policy for your Local Church’s own use or double check your local policy already addresses the key points set out in the template. In either case, you must ensure your CCTV policy is in accordance with the Retention Schedule i.e., Images are kept no longer than 90 days.
If you have any questions about the Template CCTV Policy please let us know via the Contact page on our website.
Watch out for future updates
The Retention Schedule is a living document and will continue to be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Please let the LCP Team know if you believe that any further documents should be included on the Retention Schedule.
If Managing Trustees have any queries then please contact TMCP for further assistance regarding general data protection matters and the LCP Team for queries specifically relating to safeguarding or complaints and discipline matters.