What is a publication scheme?
A Publication Scheme is a guide to the classes of information that the Council publishes or intends to publish routinely. The term “published” is broad and is not limited to information produced in paper forms. As far as the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is concerned, information made publicly available has been published. Therefore, information on the Council’s website is as much part of the Publication Scheme as printed documents.
What are classes of information?
A requirement of the Act is to specify “classes” of information that the Council will publish within its Publication Scheme.
The Information Commissioner has issued a ‘Model Publication Scheme’ and the Council adopted the ‘Model Scheme’.
The information covered by the Model Scheme is included in the 7 classes of information listed below, where this information is held by the authority:
- Who we are and what we do
- What we spend and how we spend it
- What our priorities are and how we are doing
- How we make decisions
- Our policies and procedures
- Lists and registers
- The services we offer
Examples of the type of information available are given below under the Guidance to Information.
By adopting the Information Commissioner’s ‘Model Scheme’ the Council is committed to the following:
- To proactively publish information (including environmental information which is held by it and contained within each class)
- To provide a means by which the Council can ensure the public are aware of the sorts of information the Council has committed to make readily available, how they can access it and whether they will have to pay for it.
- To review and update the information on a regular basis.
Last Updated on Friday, March 17, 2023