Freedom of Information Guide - the Publication Scheme

One of the aims of the Freedom of Information Act is that all public authorities should be clear and proactive about the information they make available. Section 19 of the Act requires the preparation of a Publication Scheme, which sets out:

• the classes of information the School publishes or intends to publish
• the manner in which they will be published
• whether the information is available free of charge or on payment of a fee

The aim of the Publication Scheme is to explain what information the School makes available to the public and, wherever possible, to provide an easy method of accessing it. The scheme will be periodically reviewed, amended and updated to include further published information. The School's scheme is based on a generic higher education scheme produced by JISC.

The School is committed to publishing a wide range of information of interest to the general public and specialised audiences, and thus the scheme reflects different areas of interest and is grouped in 9 classes of information:

1. Governance
2. Financial resources
3. Human resources
4. Physical resources
5. Student administration and support
6. Information services
7. Teaching and learning
8. Research and development
9. External relations

Within each of these classes, there is a wealth of information that can supply answers to questions from the public. If we make the information available on the website, it should head off some enquiries. However, we cannot just assume that requestors have internet access. A decision needs to be made whether it is easier to call the requestor and find out whether they have access or simply print off the information and post it to them. As a rule of thumb, if the request was made via email, it is likely that the requestor has internet access and should be sent the hyperlink to the publication scheme. If the request was received by letter or fax, they possibly don't, so send them the information by post. The Records Manager handles direct requests for information on the Publication Scheme.

The aim is to build this resource so that fewer and fewer questions are posed and fewer requests will need to be answered individually. Helping to build this resource is a major role for the FoI Champions. Examples of information that the FoI Champions are asked to add are:

• Information that is repeatedly asked for - save time and energy by identifying information that already exists and add it to the Scheme
• New policy information or statements
• Build into any new publishing programme the need to add it to the Scheme
• New summaries or minutes of meetings
• Information about new services
• Build list of FAQs: package questions that are asked for and add them to the Scheme

When you want to add information to the Publication Scheme, contact the Records Manager with the link to the web page created by your area. The Records Manager will then add it to the scheme. If you don't have a web page yet, contact the Records Manager who will liaise with Web Services to get the information on the web site.