3. How the Publication Scheme was Formulated
In formulating this publication scheme, the Council has had regard to the guidance issued by the Scottish Information Commissioner under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and in particular took the following steps:-
- Reviewed the information that we are already legally required to make available;
- Gathered information about the types of information the public may be looking for by reviewing the historical trend of electronic enquiries for information;
- Reviewed information held, including documents such as plans, policies, leaflets, information on the website etc (Note - a full information audit will be undertaken in due course by the Council for the purpose of complying with the Code of Practice on Records Management under Section 61 of the Act);
- Considered the most frequently asked questions and most routinely published information and
- Liaised with other local authorities and the professional associations of local authority solicitors and administrators.
The scheme is organised into various classes of information contained in Part B. It is not a comprehensive list of the actual publications, since this will change as other things are published, but rather it is a description of the types of information published.
Each class is split into sub-classes for ease of reference. Each sub-class entry describes the type of information, explains the format in which this is available, provides contact details and a web site address (if applicable), indicating wherever charges apply for the supply of the information. For example, information about Councillors (a sub-class) can be found in the general class "Your Council". All entries are subject to the Exemptions provisions in Section 4 of this scheme.
List of Classes
- Your Council
- Business and Economy
- Community and Living
- Council Tax, Rates and Benefits
- Education and Learning
- Environment
- Housing
- Leisure and Culture
- Planning and Transport
- Roads
- Social Work
The Council will not publish information which is not current or has been superseded unless otherwise stated in the sub-class descriptions. As information ceases to be current or is superseded it will be replaced or removed from the scheme.