4.1 Intake archives

Intake will, wherever possible, scan all hard copy material. The scanned documents will be attached to the ECHO record.

Hard copy material will be retained in the archives for 3 months (12 weeks) before being destroyed.

Original documents, for example passports or birth certificates, will be immediately returned to the complainant, as will any document the complainant has asked to be immediately returned.

4.2 Assessment and Investigation complaints

Any papers should be returned or destroyed no later than the date when the decision on the case is taken – the primary record of the case is the ECHO record.

In very exceptional cases there may be material that could not be stored in ECHO but which forms part of the primary record. In such cases it may be kept in K:\casework with a note saying why (for large computer files e.g. films), or separately and securely in a locked cupboard (e.g. for CDs). In all cases details should be included in Notes & Analysis. These records should be returned when the decision is taken, or destroyed after 12 months. 5. Exceptions to the 12-month retention period

In exceptional cases, all or part of the file will be retained for a longer period because:

• it is relevant to a more recent complaint from the same complainant – only the Customer Services Manager and above can designate an ‘exception’ in such cases
• the remedy has been delayed
• it is subject to legal action
• the file needs to be retained for an ongoing FOI/DPA/EIR internal appeal or complaint with the Information Commissioner’s office, or
• we need to keep it linked to the Infected Blood Inquiry

5.1 Retention of cases relevant to a more recent complaint

Where a file which is due for destruction is relevant to a subsequent complaint – usually from the same complainant – and the subsequent complaint is still under scrutiny, all or part of the ECHO documentation may be retained beyond the normal 12-month period. Only papers relevant to the subsequent complaint should be retained. (This may be the whole file.) The file will then be subject to the retention period of the subsequent complaint.

The case owner needs to get approval from their AO/AM for some or all of the previous complaint file to be retained. If permission is granted, they will need to copy the relevant documents and any other items from the older complaint to the newer one, suitably labelled.

Where the copied case is not from the same complainant as the newer complaint, documents must be marked ‘Do Not Disclose’ to ensure material is not released to the wrong PA in response to a subject access request.

5.2 Retention of cases where the remedy has been delayed

Where it is taking a long time to achieve a remedy, the ‘other contact’ screen can be used to delay deletion of documents at 12 months. This is in case the remedy is not achieved and the file has to be reopened.

5.3 Retention of cases subject to legal action

Where there is an application for judicial review, or other legal action, key documents from the file should be retained on ECHO. The PAP/JR application, our formal legal response, Counsel’s advice and any Court Orders are held in the Decision Folder on ECHO.

These documents will be kept for five years after the last substantive action and destroyed when all other documents in the Decision Folder are destroyed.

5.4 Retention of cases where there has been an FOI/DPA/EIR request

If there has been an FOI/DPA/EIR request, and the requester has lodged an internal appeal or complained to the Information Commissioner, we need to ensure the file is retained until the ICO have finished dealing with the complaint. (See ‘FOI/DPA/EIR’ requests below.)

5.5 Retention of cases as ordered by the Infected Blood Inquiry

Infected Blood Inquiry

The Infected Blood Inquiry was formally set up on 2 July 2018 by a statement made to Parliament by the Minister of the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

In December 2019 we were told we must not delete any material which concerns, wholly or in part, the issue of infection caused by or connected to treatment with blood products and blood transfusions, by the NHS, or are otherwise relevant to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference,

The Inquiry’s Terms of Reference can be found on the Inquiry’s website at

https://www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/ together with a series of documents titled “Statement of Approach”, which set out the Inquiry’s processes and procedures. The document titled “Statement of Approach - Anonymity and Redaction” explains the Inquiry’s approach to redaction and we must provide documents to the Inquiry without redaction.

As we have been ordered to do this under Rule 9(2) of the Inquiry Rules 2006, the prolonged retention of personal data on these cases would not contravene our data protection requirements. Once the inquiry is complete, we will be able to delete these cases. We can prevent file management deletion on these cases by creating an ‘other contact screen’, selecting ‘’other’ and not setting a ‘Date of outcome’. See the ECHO Manual – File Management and the other contact screen. Please also record the reason for the other contact in Notes & Analysis as ‘Infected Blood Inquiry’.

5.6 Notifying the complainant and BinJ

We should generally tell the complainant when we need to retain the file material for more than the normal period of 12 months, and give the reason for this and an estimate of how much longer the information will be held. The BinJ should also be informed, and any third parties whose ‘personal data’ is retained as part of the process. It is not necessary to obtain the complainant’s (or other’s) consent to continue to hold the file material but if there are objections, the Director of Investigation or the Director of Intake and Assessment (as appropriate) should consider them. If the ‘data subject’ considers that information is not being held for an appropriate purpose he/she may raise this with the Information Commissioner. The decision to retain the file should be reviewed, at a minimum, annually.