Publication Scheme
Pursuant to Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the Council is required to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme.
A Publication Scheme should provide guidance on finding the information that is now, or will be, published automatically or routinely by the Council and for which a formal Freedom of Information Act 2000 Access Request is not necessary.
Publication does not refer solely to printed material. Publication has been interpreted as broadly as possibly to include material on the Council’s website, one-off printed documents, electronic documents, printed books, reports and leaflets.
This is Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Publication Scheme.
The Council does not charge a fee to examine the information within the Publication Scheme. A charge may be made at rates determined from time to time by the Council for any photocopies sought.
Responsibilities
The Council is responsible for the provision and administration of district council services in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane situated in North Hampshire.
The Council’s principal responsibilities are:
Guiding Principles
The Council has set out guiding principles in its Constitution which embody commitments to openness, accountability and transparency.
Article 1 of the Constitution states:
“The purpose of the Constitution is to:
- enable the Council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with citizens, businesses and other organisations;
- support the active involvement and participation of citizens in the process of local authority decision-making;
- help Councillors represent their constituents more effectively;
- enable decisions to be taken efficiently and effectively;
- demonstrate that the Council will operate and approach all issues with responsibility and integrity;
- create a powerful and effective means of holding decision-makers to public account;
- ensure that no one will review or scrutinise a decision in which they were directly involved;
- ensure that those responsible for decision making are clearly identifiable to local people and that they explain the reasons for decisions;
- provide a means of improving the delivery of services to the community; and
- enable the Council to design and operate an organisational and management structure that ensures that Citizens receive Best Value services
with the overall aim that the purpose of the Council is to improve the quality of life of our Citizens.”
In respect of its decision making processes, the Constitution states that the following principles will be applied:
- Openness: the right of the public to gain access to meetings and documents;
- Transparency: the provision of information so that the public know who is responsible for making a particular decision, when and where, and have an explanation or justification for a decision;
- Accountability: the public can measure the actions taken against policies and plans on which those responsible were elected to office.
Classes
Classes are logical groupings of information. In devising this scheme the Council has identified the following classes:
- The Constitution
- Finances
- Policies
- Decisions
- Performance
- News
- Public Registers & Bye Laws
To further assist the user of the Publication Scheme an A-Z of Council services, operations and activities will be included.
Appendix A provides more information about classes and as appropriate, sub-categories. Reference to the format the information is in, when the information was published and where it can be obtained from is included. If charges apply this is indicated.
In order to discharge the Council’s obligations towards inclusiveness, information is available in different formats. It is the Council’s intention to produce website versions of all information that it publishes as paper based documents. Work has already started on this. There is some website content, e.g. live cabinet meeting web casts, that are only accessible via the website.
Public Interest and Rights to Information
In preparing the Publication Scheme the Council has taken notice of the sort of information that people normally ask us for and what they are interested in. The Council has had regard to the public interest of disclosure of information in the interests of open and accountable local government as well as having considered the information which is already published.
The Publication Scheme and Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not limit in any way other rights that people have to information nor does it limit in any way the very large amount of information the Council otherwise makes available on request.
Therefore, for example, planning applications will continue to be available for public inspection and the rights of housing applicants with regard to information concerning their housing applications, are also unaffected.
Additionally the Council will continue to publish a large amount of material by way of guidance or assistance about various services on a routine basis as has always been done.
Personal Information
A great deal of the information that we hold is about individuals.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not deal with this. The relevant legislation is the Data Protection Act 1998. Freedom of information does not mean that individual’s private and confidential matters (e.g. Council Tax, Benefit, housing issues etc) will be made public. The individual concerned, however, does have access to the information under the Data Protection Act 1998. In other words, your private and business affairs with the Council as an individual are not the subject of the Publication Scheme.
Responsibility for the Publication Scheme
The Council officer responsible for the Publication Scheme is:
Dorcas Bunton, Director of Corporate Resources
She can be contacted:
| In writing |
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
Civic Offices, London Road, Basingstoke, RG21 4AH |
| By email |
d.bunton@basingstoke.gov.uk |
| By telephone |
01256 845797 |
| By fax |
01256 844707 |
Dorcas Bunton is also the Council officer responsible for Data Protection.
Day to day responsibility of maintaining the Publication Scheme is handled by:
Chris Guy, Head of Legal Services
Caroline Maxfield, Information Management Officer
They can be contacted:
Caroline Maxfield is also the Council officer responsible for day-to-day matters related to Data Protection.
Publication Scheme Review and Amendment
Because the Publication Scheme is a new requirement it is the Council’s intention to undertake a review of this within twelve months. Thereafter, it is anticipated that the Publication Scheme will be reviewed, renewed and submitted to the Information Commissioner every three years.
Availability of the Publication Scheme
The Publication Scheme itself will be made available on the Council’s website and will be deposited at the Council offices in Basingstoke. A copy will also be made available to the County Library Service within the Borough and to each Town and Parish council. In deciding to distribute the Publication Scheme this way the Council has had regard to the geographical nature of the Borough, issues of access and the public interest.
Help and assistance
The Publication Scheme and the documents to which it refers are available in English - the first language of the Borough. If you would prefer the document in another language, in large print or on audio tape, please contact either the Council’s Contact Centre by calling 01256 844844 or Caroline Maxfield directly.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about this Publication Scheme or any Council service, these may be dealt with by writing to:
Chief Executive
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
Civic Offices, London Road, Basingstoke, RG21 4AH
The opportunity to complain to the Council does not limit any rights you have to complain to the Information Commissioner. Please note though that you may need to exhaust the Council’s complaints procedure before the Information Commissioner will process a complaint for you.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at the following address:
| In writing |
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF |
| By email |
data@dataprotection.gov.uk |
| By telephone |
01625 545745 |
| By fax |
01625 524510 |
| By DX |
20819 Wilmslow |
If you have any suggestions about this Publication Scheme, please advise Caroline Maxfield or if you prefer use the ‘Contact Us’ facility on the Council’s website.
Appendix A - Classes
Appendix A provides more information about classes and as appropriate, sub-categories. Reference to the format the information is in, when the information is published and where it can be obtained from is included. If charges apply this is indicated.