From 1996 to 2000, a records management survey was undertaken of most of the administrative offices of the Palace of Westminster.
The survey findings were incorporated into the 'Parliamentary Records Management Policy Guidelines', which was approved by both Houses. This was followed by a project to ensure that corporate records management conformed to international standards.
Freedom of Information
In 2001, a new post of Freedom of Information Officer was created to ensure the House of Lords' compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998.
In 2004-5, the Archives revised its acquisition policy. It was decided that the Archives would no longer collect personal papers of politicians, records of pressure groups, political journalists or records relating to politics but not of Parliamentary provenance.
Environmental upgrade
By the late 1990s, it was also clear that the air-conditioning was failing to comply with standards, and a new five year project was undertaken in 2000-4 to upgrade the environmental conditions and provide better fire protection.
In 2000-5, a major project converted the paper finding aids of the collection into a single online catalogue known as Portcullis.
In 1999, the House of Lords Records Office took on the subsidiary title of Parliamentary Archives; this became the archives' official name in November 2006.