Publication Scheme
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires
all public authorities, including Ashford Borough Council, to adopt
and maintain a Publication Scheme.
This is Ashford Borough Council’s Scheme
under the Act. The purpose of the Scheme is to inform the public as
to what information will be automatically or routinely published by
the Borough Council. In order to achieve this, the Act
requires that Publication Schemes specify classes of
information. Ashford Borough Council’s Scheme sets out seven
Classes or categories, which are:
- Class 1
- Who we are and what we do
- Class 2
- What we spend and how we spend it
- Class 3
- What our priorities are and how we are
doing
- Class 4
- How we make decisions
- Class 5
- Our policies and procedures
- Class 6
- Lists and registers
- Class 7
- Services provided by the Council
The rest of this document deals with these
Classes. In each case, the Scheme gives the title of the
Class, a definition, an explanation if appropriate, and a
description of how the information may be seen, for example its
location on the Council’s website or at an office. Charges
may be levied for obtaining copies of the information. (See
below).
All Classes are subject to statutory and other
exemptions, that is, information that whilst it falls within the
broad definition, will not be published. (See further,
“Excluded Information”, below).
This Scheme has been developed in accordance
with the guidance issued by the Information Commissioner
(“Definition
Document for the Model Publication Scheme for principal local
authorities” ). In preparing this Scheme we have also had
regard to the public interest. We have taken notice of the
kinds of information that people normally ask us for and what they
are interested in. We have also had regard to the overall
public interest in disclosure of information in the interests of
open and accountable local government, as well as having regard to
information that is already published.
The Scheme and the Freedom of information Act 2000 does not
limit in any way the other rights that people have to information,
nor does it limit in any way the information that we otherwise make
publicly available outside the Scheme.
Therefore, planning applications, the
statutory Planning Register, and all other statutory registers
which the Council is obliged to make available, will continue to be
available for public inspection.
Additionally we will continue publishing a
large amount of material in the form of guidance or assistance
about various services on a routine basis, as we always have
done.
Excluded Information
- A great deal of the information that we hold
is personal and/or private to individuals. The Freedom of
Information Act 2000 does not deal with this, and will not make
this information public. The individual concerned does,
however, have access to that information under the Data Protection
Act, 1998. In other words, your private affairs and business
with Ashford Borough Council as an individual are not the subject
of this Publication Scheme.
- Excluded throughout the Scheme is general
correspondence sent or received by the Council.
- Please note that a limitation may apply as to
the length of time certain documents are kept by the Council.
The emphasis of the scheme is to make current information readily
available.
Responsibilities
The Council has appointed the Head of ICT
and Customer Services as the officer responsible for this
Scheme on behalf of the Council and also as responsible for
maintaining the Scheme on a day-to-day basis.
He is also the Data Protection Officer for the Council and
so he will also deal with any issues about personal data.
Additionally, the Council maintains a current complaints
procedure and any formal complaints about Data Protection, the
Freedom of Information Act or other services generally may be dealt
with by contacting the relevant Service Manager or by writing
to Head
of Service.
The full complaints procedure is available on our Formal Complaints
Procedure webpage.
The opportunity to make a formal complaint to the Council
does not limit any rights that people have to complain to the
Information Commissioner (about either Freedom of Information or
Data Protection issues) at the following address:
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane, Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 08456 306060 or 01625 545745
Fax: 01625 524510
DX: 20819 Wilmslow
Web: www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
Review
The Publication Scheme will be reviewed
periodically to ensure that the Council is adhering to the Freedom
of Information Act and is operating the Scheme in accordance with
good practice.
The relevant information under each Class
will automatically be published and/or updated as required.
If you have any suggestions about this Scheme, please contact
the Head
of ICT and Customer Services.
Publication of the Scheme
This Publication Scheme itself is available here and will
be deposited at all of our offices within the Borough. A copy
will also be made available to local Town and Parish Councils
within the Borough, for their information.
In deciding to distribute the Scheme in this way we have
had regard to the geographical nature of the Borough, issues of
access and the public interest.
Language and Format
This Publication Scheme and the documents to which it
refers are available in written form, in English. Any members
of the public who require access to the Scheme in other formats
should contact the Head of ICT and Customer Services to
discuss availability.
Charges
No charge will be made by the Council for examining the
information within this Publication Scheme. A charge may be
made at rates determined from time to time by the Council for any
photocopies sought.
Many documents included in this Scheme, however, are
subject to specific charges for the provision of copies.
These are listed in the current List of Charges, available on our
Website and on request from the Head of ICT and
Customer Services.
Scope
This Publication Scheme does not refer to any other
authorities, bodies or executive agencies. The information it
defines and classifies relates to Ashford Borough Council
only.
|
Class |
Definition |
Details and Explanation |
Currency |
Locations |
Charges |
| 1. Who we are and what we do |
Organisational information, structures,
locations and contacts. |
- The Council's
Constitution
The council's constitution consists of a number of documents that,
under the Local Government Act 2000, are required to be brought
together and made available for public inspection. The articles of
the constitution set out the basic principles that underlie the way
the council operates. The other parts of the constitution include
details of the council and the committees to which the council has
delegated various powers and the functions that are the
responsibility of the executive; the terms of reference of the
various committees and other bodies; the procedure rules that
regulate the proceedings at meetings; financial regulations; the
code of practice for the procurement of works, supplies and
services; codes of conduct for members and employees; the schedule
for the payment of member's allowances; and a description of the
management structure of the council's workforce.
- Council democratic
structure
Any further information not included in the
constitution about the decision making bodies of the council and
their role.
- Council directorate
structure
Information about the internal structures
of the offices of the council, including an outline of their
responsibilities and the names of the directors.
- Location and opening times of council
properties
- Currently elected councillors’
information and contact details
- Contact details for all
customer-facing departments
- Most recent election
results
- Relationships with other
authorities
The respective roles of different local
authorities, details of partnership arrangements with other
authorities and the Council’s relationship with central government.
The role of the Monitoring Officer in respect of Ashford Borough
Council and other councils.
|
Current information only |
Written
format:
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1PL
Electronic
format: Council's
Constitution.
|
For information see our Charges section above
|
| 2. What we spend and how we spend
it |
Financial information about projected and actual income and
expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit.
|
- Financial statements, budgets and variance
reports
- Capital
programme
Information on major plans for capital
expenditure including any private finance initiative and
public-private partnership contracts.
- Spending reviews
- Financial audit reports
- The members’ allowances scheme and
the allowances paid under it to councillors each year
- Staff allowances and
expenses
- Pay and grading
structure
- Election expenses (returns or
declarations and accompanying documents relating to election
expenses sent to the council)
- Procurement
procedures
Details of procedures for acquiring goods
and services. Contracts available for public tender.
- Details of contracts currently being
tendered
- List of contracts awarded and their
value
Only contracts that are large enough to have
gone through formal tendering are published.
- District auditor’s
report
- Financial statements for projects and
events
- Internal financial
regulations
- Funding for partnership
arrangements
|
Current and previous two financial
years |
Written
format:
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1PL
|
For information see our Charges section
above |
| 3. What our priorities are and how we
are doing |
Strategies and plans, performance
indicators, audits, inspections and reviews. |
- Annual reports
- Strategies and business plans for
services provided by the council
- Best value local performance
plan
- Internal and external organisation
performance reviews
- Strategies developed in partnership
with other authorities
- Economic development action
plan
- Forward plan
- Capital strategy
- Best value performance
indicators
- District auditor’s reports on the
best value performance plan and performance
indicators
- Comprehensive performance
assessment
- Inspection reports
- Local Area Agreements
- Statistical information produced in
accordance with the council’s and departmental
requirements
- Impact assessments
- Service standards
- Public service
agreements
|
Current and previous three
years |
Written
format:
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1PL
Electronic format: Council Website
in due course.
|
For information see our Charges section
above |
| 4. How we make
decisions |
Decision-making processes and records of decisions.
.
|
- Timetable of council meetings
- Agendas, officers’ reports,
background papers and minutes of council committee, sub committee
and standing forum meetings
- Major policy proposals and
decisions
Information that can be made available to
the public without damaging internal policy development and
relations with other public authorities.
- Facts and analyses of facts
considered when framing major policies
- Public
consultations
Details of consultation exercises with
access to the consultation papers or information about where the
papers can be obtained. The results and outcomes of consultation
exercises.
- Internal communications guidance,
criteria used for decision-making, internal instructions, manuals
and guidelines
Subject to Exceptions as below:
(1) This information does not
include information which by law is classified as “confidential” or
“exempt” under Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local
Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.
(2) Currently Agendas and Reports are not
normally available earlier than five working days before the date
of the meeting concerned.
(3) Agendas and Reports are currently
kept for a period of four years after the date of the meeting, and
so may not be available for meetings held more than four years
ago.
(4) Minutes are required to be kept for a
period of six years after the date of the meeting, and so may not
be available for meetings held more than six years ago.
|
Current and previous three years
(except in the case of Agendas and Reports [4 years] and Minutes [6
years]) |
Written
format:
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1PL
Electronic
format: Council's
Constitution.
|
For information see our Charges section
above |
| 5. Our policies and
procedures |
Current written protocols, policies and procedures for
delivering our services and responsibilities.
|
Some of the information about policies and
procedures will be covered by the council’s constitution.
- Policies and procedures for conducting council
business
Codes of practice, memoranda of
understanding, procedure rules, internal guidance about the
division of responsibilities between committees and delegated
authority, policies on communications between councillors and
members of staff and similar information.
- Policies and procedures for
delivering our services
Including local area
agreement memoranda and policies and procedures for handling
information requests.
- Policies and procedures about the
recruitment and employment of staff
- Customer
service
Standards for providing services to the
council’s customers, including the complaint procedure. Complaints
procedures will include those covering requests for information and
operating the publication scheme.
- Records management and personal data
policies
This will include information security
policies, records retention, destruction and archive policies, and
data protection (including data sharing) policies.
- Charging regimes and policies
|
Current information
only |
Written
format:
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1PL
Electronic format: Council Website in due
course.
|
For information see our Charges section
above |
| 6. Lists and registers |
Lists and registers held by the
Council. |
- Public registers and registers held as public
records
- Asset registers and information asset
register
Not all details from all asset registers
will be available for publication.
- Register of councillors’ financial
and other interests
- Register of gifts and
hospitality
- Register of
electors
|
Current information only |
Written
format:
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1PL
Electronic format: Council Website
in due course, where appropriate and
permitted.
|
For information see our Charges section
above |
| 7. Services provided by the
council |
Information about the services the council provides including
leaflets, guidance and newsletters.
|
Generally this is an extension of part of the first class
of information. While the first class provides information on the
council’s and its departments’ roles and responsibilities, this
class includes details of the services the council provides as a
result of them.
- Regulatory and licensing responsibilities
- Services for local
businesses
- Services for other
organisations
- Services for members of the
public
- Services for which the council is
entitled to recover a fee, together with those fees
- Information for visitors to the area,
leisure information, events, museums, libraries and archive
collections
- Leaflets, booklets and
newsletters
- Advice and guidance
- Media releases
- Election information
|
Current information only |
Written
format:
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1PL
Electronic format: Council Website in due
course.
|
For information see our Charges section above |
This webpage was updated on
1/8/2009