The Joint Archives Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the Teesside Archives Service's budget, activities, and future plans. A key focus of the meeting is to be on agreeing interim arrangements for the service over the next three years, including a review of the Service Level Agreement, collections storage, digital preservation, and outreach programmes. The committee is also expected to discuss the budget for 2025-26 and note the Executive Report on the activities of the Archive Service.

Interim Proposals for the Archives Service

The committee is scheduled to discuss a report on the proposals for interim arrangements for the Archives Service. The report notes that the service has been in a holding position while awaiting the outcome of the Tees Valley Heritage Feasibility Study. As the publication of that report is still awaited, the committee is to consider plans to enable the ongoing management of the service in the short to medium term.

The report recommends that the Joint Archives Committee agree to several proposals:

• Service Level Agreement (SLA): Lead Officers are to review the SLA¹ to improve decision-making and governance related to the Archives. The four local authorities are to sign up to the new agreement for three years (2026/27 – 2028/29), with a possible review point in October 2027.
• Collections Storage: The contract with Restore for off-site storage is to be extended to July 2028, based on acceptance of the fee proposal in Appendix B - Restore Contract Renewal Calculations.
• Digital Preservation: A digital preservation system is considered essential for managing and protecting records. The committee is to discuss working together to find funding for digital preservation from 2026/27. The report notes that the Archives Service is struggling to manage its collection of digital records, and that the current arrangements are unsustainable. The report states that the New Burdens grant of £115,991 could be used to fund the acquisition of the Preservica system, including three years of running costs, and for a full-time Grade I Digital Archivist for one year.
• Outreach Programme: Each local authority is to provide a contact to work with the Community Engagement Officer to develop an annual outreach plan, starting in 2026/27. The Teesside Archives Outreach Programme Proposal suggests an annual programme for each borough including a large scale event, two smaller scale community events, school workshops, public guided walks and community talks.

Teesside Archives Executive Report

The Joint Archives Committee is scheduled to note the content of the Teesside Archives Executive Report, which highlights key areas of activity within the Archive Service.

The report notes that the service continues to receive new material, including records from a director of the Haverton Hill shipyard and lantern slides showing the construction of the extension to Middlesbrough Dock. The Archives Manager is also working on a Lottery funded project with the Tees Women Poets to collect memories related to the women's movement from the 1980s, which has resulted in the acquisition of material related to the Cleveland Group and its involvement in the Greenham Common peace campaign.

The report also provides details of community outreach sessions held between 1 February and 26 September 2025, with a total of 1,268 participants. Hartlepool accounted for 16% of participants, Middlesbrough 39%, Redcar & Cleveland 16%, Stockton 11%, and Tees Valley 13%.

The report notes that Teesside Archives closed for two weeks during the summer to work on the cataloguing backlog, including plans and photographs from Middlesbrough Town Hall.

The report also includes statistics on visits to the Archives Service, document issues, enquiries, and volunteer hours.

Budget Update 2025/26

The committee is scheduled to note the expenditure on the 2025-26 budget, as detailed in the Archives Budget Working Papers 2025/26. The report states that the budget is on target, and each authority should see a small saving this financial year due to a staff member being on maternity leave. The report also notes that the service has kept a tight rein on spending regarding the Restore contract, but has had to spend an increasing amount on conservation resources and specialist software. The staff pay award was also slightly higher than forecast.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The minutes of the Joint Archives Committee meeting held on 7 May 2025 are to be submitted for approval as a correct record. At that meeting, the committee discussed a Digital Preservation Briefing Paper, and agreed that local authority partners should consider sources of additional investment, and that a formal proposal should be presented at the October 2025 meeting of the Joint Archives Committee.