2009 Model Publication Schemes
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 created the unique concept of 'Publication Schemes' - a tool which was to be used to identify and manage information held by public authorities which could and should be put proactively in the public domain without waiting for individual requests.
When the first of these schemes were put into place it was very much left to individual authorities or exceptionally sectors to design and seek approval for their own schemes with little proactive support from the Information Commissioner. However as these initial schemes were only licensed for 4 years the Commissioner came to realise that if the stated objective of promoting the automatic release of more information were to be realised then his office would have to take the lead for the second generation of such schemes. The Development and Maintenance Initiative consulted widely and produced a single Model Scheme for use by all public authorities; supporting documentation makes it clear to each sector what information the Regulator, the Information Commissioner expects to see made available proactively.
Important Issues
Ownership
It is extremely important that as organisations develop their Publication Schemes senior management are aware and take ownership of what they are committing to. Once information is identified as being appropriate for inclusion in a Publication Scheme and the decision made to include it then no further decision making should be involved and the information should be made available automatically.
Reasons for not including information in Publication Schemes
There is only one justification for not including information which has been identified by the Information Commissioner in the sector Definition Documents within Publication Schemes. This is in circumstances where, were the information to be subject to an individual request for access, the organisation would engage an exemption to protect disclosure. There are no other supportable reasons for exclusing information identified in Definition documents from Publication Schemes if the information is held.
Process
It is important that each organisation carries out a cross match to identify what information identified in the relevant Definition Document is actually held by the authority; then each item of information should be tested against the principle of 'why not' rather than 'do we have to do this?' The potential of the engagement of an exemption is a crucial area - no exemption - the information - if included in a Defintion document should be included in the material available via the Publication Scheme.
Where it is decided not to include such information in a Publication Scheme the Public Authority must keep a clear record of decision making including justification for such decisions. For members of FOI+ a template decision matrix is available together with website text which has been vetted by the Information Commissioner's Office.
Information must be regularly reviewed and maintained - recency is essential.
Method of Publication
One of the major changes between the early Publication Schemes and those of the second generation is the acknowledgement that the world of technology has moved on and that most public sector organisations now communicate with clients and communities electronically . Thus the expectation is that information made proactively available through Publication Schemes will be found via search engines with no necessity to have a separate bureaucratic index on a website. The Information Commissioner wishes to see information made routinely available as part of the 'normal business' of public authorities - embedded in the way in which we communicate with and inform those with whom we are in daily contact.
Where information cannot be made available electronically then this should be identified on the website and information made available about how it will be supplied.
Deadlines
You should have adopted the Model Publication Scheme by 1 January 2009, the legality of the initial scheme expired on 31 December 2008 and you are out of compliance if you have not formally adopted the new scheme and populated it on the basis of the information identified in the Definition documents.
While there has been an unofficial period of grace this is now coming to an end and public authorities can expect more regulatory action in the near future. The Information Commissioner has already let if be known that in the event of any complaint including those relating to process or individual rights of access the first step will be to ensure that the new Model Scheme has been adopted and that information is being made available proactively.
Charges
There seems to be a great deal of confusion about Fees and Charges. Fees are laid down by the Fees Regulations and only relate to individual requests for information. Charges relate to disbursements and to any costs levied against the provision of information which is made available through a Publication scheme. These two elements are quite separate and should not be confused. If you are going to levy any charges for information included in the Publication Scheme this must be made very clear within the scheme itself as must be the policy and incidence relating to any charges for postage and photocopying for example.
Monitoring of Publication Schemes by the ICO
The ICO has published his strategy for monitoring Publication Schemes and this can be found here
Don't forget for members of FOI+ that more templates and tools are available on the encrypted part of the website
