The Norfolk Record Office has raised the alarm over the volume of records it expects to receive as Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) reshapes councils across the county, warning the influx could dwarf its normal intake.

The archive currently receives around 20 cubic metres of records each year. Once LGR takes effect, that figure could rise to more than 100 cubic metres annually — more than five times the usual amount — placing severe pressure on a service already facing a storage crisis.

County Archivist Gary Tuson told the committee that risk ratings for LGR were "aspirational" and that proper arrangements would need to be in place before the changes came into force. He warned that some important records could be permanently lost if they were deleted before the NRO had a chance to receive them, partly because a data protection exemption for archives is "not widely known".

LGR is also expected to generate a significant number of new local government records requiring formal deposit, adding to long-term pressure on the archive's already stretched strongrooms, which are forecast to reach capacity by 2028.

Committee members voted unanimously to add LGR as a standing item on the committee's agenda, with the Structural Change Order facilitating reorganisation in Norfolk expected to be laid before Parliament before the committee's next meeting in October 2026.

Shadow authorities are due to be elected in May 2027 to oversee the transition, and the committee noted that decisions about the NRO's longer-term future would ultimately rest with those new bodies.

The committee also heard that data protection regulations present an additional complication, as some records may be destroyed under GDPR before archivists can intervene to preserve them.