The traditional methods of record management and the legal system in the UK have not easily supported access to and reuse of public sector administrative records by National Statistical Institutes (NSIs). This paper will consider the measures being taken to address this situation. These include the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, which comes into effect in 2008 and strategies, such as the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), the aim of which is to standardise record management within the National Health Service (NHS). It will be argued that albeit that these are important facilitators of reuse of administrative records for research purposes, the ethical dimensions of such moves must be carefully thought through. This is important if the widespread social acceptance necessary for sustainable access and reuse of administrative records by NSIs is to be achieved. This paper will discuss how lessons can be learnt from the approach taken by the Netherlands to aspects of data management including their approach to access, reuse and future dissemination of statistical products
