Policies

Reviewed  October 2024

This publication scheme has been adopted without modification from that which was prepared and approved by the Information Commissioner. It will be valid until further notice. 

This publication scheme commits Scothern Parish Council to make information available to the public as part of its normal business activities. The information covered is included in the classes of information mentioned below, where this information is held by the Council. 

The scheme commits Scothern Parish Council: 

• To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, which is held by the Council and falls within the classifications below.

• To specify the information which is held by the Council and falls within the classifications below.

• To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information in line with the statements contained within this scheme.

• To produce and publish the methods by which the specific information is made routinely available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public.

• To review and update on a regular basis the information the Council makes available under this scheme.

• To produce a schedule of any fees charged for access to information which is made proactively available.

• To make this publication scheme available to the public.

• To publish any dataset held by the Council that has been requested, and any updated versions it holds, unless the Council is satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so; to publish the dataset, where reasonably practicable, in an electronic form that is capable of re-use; and, if any information in the dataset is a relevant copyright work and the public authority is the only owner, to make the information available for re-use under the terms of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, if they apply, and otherwise under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act section 19.  (The term ‘dataset’ is defined in section 11(5) of the Freedom of Information Act. The term ‘relevant copyright work’ is defined in section 19(8) of that Act )

Exempt information: 

• Information the disclosure of which is prevented by law, or exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, or is otherwise properly considered to be protected from disclosure. 
• Information in draft form. 
• Information that is no longer readily available as it is contained in files that have been placed in archive storage or is difficult to access for similar reasons. 

Charges which may be made for Information published under this scheme 

The purpose of this scheme is to make the maximum amount of information readily available at minimum inconvenience and cost to the public. Charges made by the Council for routinely published material will be justified and transparent and kept to a minimum. 

Material which is published and accessed on a website will be provided free of charge. 

Charges may be made for information subject to a charging regime specified by Parliament. 

Charges may be made for actual disbursements incurred such as: 

• photocopying 
• postage and packaging 
• the costs directly incurred as a result of viewing information 

Charges may also be made for information provided under this scheme where they are legally authorised, they are in all the circumstances, including the general principles of the right of access to information held by public authorities, justified and are in accordance with a published schedule or schedules of fees which is readily available to the public. 

If a charge is to be made, confirmation of the payment due will be given before the information is provided. Payment may be requested prior to provision of the information. 

Written Requests 

Information held by the council that is not published under this scheme can be requested in writing, when its provision will be considered in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. 

Re-use of Public Sector Information (RPSI)

Public sector information means information that the Council produce as part of their public task. ‘Public task’ means the core role and functions, as defined in legislation or established through custom and practice.

It is possible that the Council may hold some information that is not part of their public task. If so, this would not be covered by RPSI.

RPSI does not apply to information that would be exempt from disclosure under information access legislation, ie the Data Protection Act (the DPA), the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), the INSPIRE regulations, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations and the INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations.

However, information that would be exempt from an access request under section 21 of FOIA or section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act because it is already reasonably accessible to the requester (for example because it is on the Councils website) would normally be available for re-use.

RPSI does not apply to recorded information the Council hold if someone else holds the intellectual property rights (eg copyright or database right). The Council can only permit re-use if they hold the intellectual property rights in the information.

Re-use means using public sector information, for a purpose other than the initial public task it was produced for.

Typically, this would mean an individual, a company or other organisation taking information the Council have produced and republishing it or using it to produce a new product or resource, often by combining it with other information. This is sometimes, though not always, on a commercial basis. RPSI is intended to encourage re-use of public sector information.

RPSI is about permitting re-use of information and how it is made available. It is not about accessing information, which is dealt with under information access legislation.

Information Available from Scothern Parish Council under the Model Publication Scheme

SCHEDULE OF CHARGES

Describing how charges have been assessed.

Type of charge/Description basis of charge
Photocopying – actual costs to the local authority – 10p
Postage (if applicable) – actual costs of postage will be charged (normally 2nd class via Royal Mail)