Publication Scheme

The Information Commissioner’s Office has published a “Model Publication Scheme” which provides an indication of the information which they would expect Town and Community Councils to make available to members of the public, so far as possible in an electronic form which is “capable of re-use.”

There is a legal commitment upon authorities to adopt the model publications scheme but the model scheme is not itself considered to be an exhaustive list. The Commissioner’s guideline is that authorities “should look to provide as much information as possible on a routine basis.”

Certain types and elements of information would effectively be exempt including –

•  Where the authority does not hold the information
• The information is exempt under one of the statutory exceptions or is prohibited from disclosure by statute
• The information is readily and publicly available from a website external to the authority. The authority is however required to provide the link to that information.
• The information is archives, out of date or otherwise inaccessible
• Cases where it would be impractical or resource intensive to prepare the information for routine release.

The Model Scheme prescribes seven classes of information –
Class 1 – Who we are and what we do
Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it
Class 3 – What are our priorities and how we are doing
Class 4 – How we make decisions
Class 5 – Our policies and procedures
Class 6 – Lists and Registers
Class 7 – The services we offer
Other – Not specified above

The Town Council aims to maximise the amount of information which is readily available to and at minimum inconvenience and cost to members of the public. However we are able to set charges for meeting the costs of providing “hard copy” information including photocopying and postage and packing. Where such charges are set, these are specified below.

In any case where a charge is payable, the person requesting the information will be advised of the likely cost prior to fulfilling their request.

All requests for information should be addressed to the Town Clerk.

The Town Council’s current scheme is set out below. Specific documents will be added under separate tabs within this part of our website.

Click here for the Town Council’s current scheme.