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ITEM EX14

EXECUTIVE - 26 NOVEMBER 2002

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000: PUBLICATION SCHEME

Report by Solicitor to the Council

Introduction
  1. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 received Royal Assent on the 30 November 2000 and comes fully into force in January 2005. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, including local authorities, with certain specified exemptions. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 individuals already have the right of access to personal information about themselves and under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this right will be extended to allow individuals public access to all types of information held.

  2. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires all local authorities to produce a Publication Scheme setting out what information will be routinely made available to the public. The purpose of the Scheme is to make sure that a significant and growing amount of information is easily available without the need for individuals to make a specific request and to encourage a culture of openness within local government.

    3. The Legal Framework for a Publication Scheme

  3. Section 19(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes it the duty of every public authority to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme, to publish information in accordance with its Scheme, and from time to time to review the Scheme.

  4. Section 19 (2) of the Act requires that a Publication Scheme should specify:
  • the classes of information that the public authority publishes or intends to publish;
  • the manner in which information of each class is, or is intended to be, published; and
  • whether the material is, or is intended to be, available to the public free of charge or on payment.
  1. Section 19 (3) states that "in adopting or reviewing a Publication Scheme, the public authority shall have regard to the public interest in allowing public access to information held by the authority and in the publication of reasons for decisions made by the Public authority".

    2. Approval Documentation

  2. A draft Publication Scheme is required to be provided to the Information Commissioner for approval on or before the 31 December 2002. In order to approve a Scheme the Information Commissioner requires a submission of two documents from each authority, namely, the draft Publication Scheme itself and a completed approval questionnaire.

  3. The Act does not specify any details about which an authority should publish nor has the Information Commissioner produced a model Publication Scheme for local authorities (except for district councils).

  4. The Information Commissioner has stated that she does not simply want the Scheme to list documents currently available. The Scheme will set out classes of information and commits the Council to publish any information that falls within the defined class. It is therefore essential that the wording of these classes are clear and any exemptions claimed are fully set out.

    5. Advice and Guidelines

  5. In February 2002 the Information Commission produced guidelines as to the preparation for implementation and some general guidelines with regards to the content of the Publication Scheme. In addition a small number of local authorities including Bedfordshire County Council and West Sussex County Council agreed to act as pilot authorities and to work closely with the Information Commission and Local Government Association in producing a draft Publication Schemes. The intention behind running these Schemes was to obtain feedback on the practical implementation issues associated with setting up and maintaining such Schemes and to obtain comments from users. A summary report was eventually produced in July 2002 with draft approved Schemes becoming available in August 2002.

    6. Preparing the Draft Publication Scheme

  6. In July 2002 all Departments and Directorates were required to provide named representatives to take responsibility for ensuring that an audit was undertaken across all functions of the County Council, to ascertain the following:
    1. all information that is already made readily available to the public;
    2. information that is provided upon routine request by members of the public; and
    3. new areas of information that could be made accessible to the public
  1. Whilst much of the information is already provided to the public, drafting the Publication Scheme nevertheless affords the authority an opportunity to consider a more pro-active approach to the provision of information to members of the public and of course has implications for how this information is to be obtained.

  2. Meetings with the representatives have taken place and agreement made to adopt a similar format to the Bedfordshire County Council Pilot Scheme in order to assist officers in the preparation of their audit. These have been collated and form the basis of the draft Publication Scheme. An audit of all information held or that could be made available is an extensive task. It will continue after the Scheme has been launched and will inform the basis of any review. Centre and made available for public inspection as soon as it is ready. In the meantime, there is attached to the report the proposed general introductory section (Annex 1) (download as .rtf file) together with the information schedule as it relates to members and member bodies of the Council (Annex 2) (download as .rtf file). The further material required to complete the schedule, which is factual in nature, will be produced in the same format.

    3. Consultation

  3. In preparing the draft Publication Scheme there has been a joint working with all District Councils within Oxfordshire and a public notice was issued on behalf of all these Councils to afford the public an opportunity of raising or identifying information that they would like to see routinely made available. An approved Publication Scheme does not need to remain static and can be added to although approved classes themselves may not be removed without formal application to the Information Commissioner.

    4. Financial Implications

  4. At the present moment the production of the draft Publication Scheme has no significant financial implications for the Authority since much if not all of the information is already accessible or could be made available. There are however financial implications in relation to the means by which this information could be provided particularly if the Publication Scheme is to be regarded as a key document through which individuals can gain information across the whole range of County Council service. It has potential implications for web site design and of course a records management strategy may well have cost implications also for the Council. The approval of the draft Publication Scheme does not however commit the Council to substantial additional cost.

    5. RECOMMENDATION

  5. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to authorise the Solicitor to the Council to finalise the Publication Scheme on the basis of the principles set out in the report and the outline annexed to the report, for submission to the Information Commissioner by 31 December 2002 as required by Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

PETER CLARK
Solicitor to the Council

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Peter Clark Tel 01865 815363

November 2002

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