FREEDOM OF INFORMATION - MODEL PUBLICATION SCHEME

The Freedom of Information Act requires all public authorities, which includes South Cambridgeshire District Council, to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme.

A Guide to the Publication Scheme is available online and at the reception desk at South Cambridgeshire Hall, Cambourne Business Park, Cambourne, CB23 6EA

Please use the browse and search functions to locate information you require.

As of January 2009, South Cambridgeshire District Council has adopted the Information Commissioner's new Model Publication Scheme (This link will open in a new window), which represents a commitment to publish information within seven broad classes of information:

Who we are and what we do

Organisational information, locations and contacts, constitutional and legal governance.

South Cambridgeshire District Council Constitution
About South Cambs District Council

What we spend and how we spend it

Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, tendering, procurement and contracts.
Council Finances
Procurement

What our priorities are and how we are doing

Strategy and performance information, plans, assessments, inspections and reviews.
Best Value Reviews
Comprehensive Performance Assessment
Best Value Performance Plans

How we make decisions

Policy proposals and decisions, decision making processes, internal criteria and procedures, consultations.
Committee Minutes and Agendas
Programme of Committee Minutes
Subscribe to Agendas

Our policies and procedures

Current written protocols for delivering our functions and responsibilities.
Aims and Objectives of the Council
Race Equality Scheme

Lists and registers

Description of class: Information held in registers required by law and other lists and registers relating to the functions of the authority.

Electoral Register
Schedule of District and Parish Electoral Arrangements
Parish Register

The services we offer

Advice and guidance, booklets and leaflets, transactions and media releases. A description of the services offered.
Building Control
Community Development
Community Safety
Conservation
Council Bulletin
Council news
Councillors and Wards
Council tax and Business rates
Development Control
Electoral Services
Environmental Health
Government
Housing
Job vacancies

The classes of information will not generally include:

Information that is generally prevented by law, or exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, or is otherwise considered to be protected from disclosure
Information held in draft
Information that is no longer readily available as it is contained in files that have been placed in archive storage, or is difficult to access for similar reasons

How to access information published under this scheme

Please click on the links to get published information available free of charge from our website. In each section there are links to the relevant web pages where the information can be accessed. A printed copy can be requested by contacting the appropriate Service area within the Council. Please refer to the charges section below. In exceptional circumstances, some information may be available only by viewing in person. Where this manner is specified, please contact the relevant Service area to make an appointment to view the information within a reasonable timescale.

Information will be provided in the language in which it is held or in such other language that is legally required. We will translate any information when we are legally required to do so.

Obligations under disability and discrimination legislation and any other legislation to provide information in other forms and formats will be adhered to when providing information in accordance with this scheme.

The relevant information under each class will automatically be published and or updated as required.

How to access other information

Access to unpublished information can be made by making a request in writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations. A request will be handled in accordance with the Council's FOIA Policy and Procedure.

However, disclosure of certain information may be prohibited because it relates to an individual and is protected by the Data Protection Act or is subject to exemptions under the FOIA. Further information is available in the Council's FOIA Policy and Procedure and official guidance published by the Information Commissioner's Office.

charges

Charges which may be made for information published under this scheme

A vast amount of information that the Council publishes can be downloaded from the website free of charge. Where a printed copy is requested, the information will normally be supplied free or at a nominal cost to cover printing, photocopying and postage.

Fee structure for various formats of information provision
Method of production	Format	Size	Charge
Photocopying	Black and White	A3	15p per sheet
Photocopying	Black and White	A4	10p per sheet
Photocopying	Colour	A3	60p per sheet
Photocopying	Colour	A4	50p per sheet
Printing	Black and White	A3	15p per sheet
Printing	Black and White	A4	10p per sheet
Printing	Colour	A3	60p per sheet
Printing	Colour	A4	50p per sheet
CD burning	Digital	Standard	30p per CD
Printing from Microfiche/Microfilm	Black and White	A4	10p per frame
Conversion to digital format	Digital	variable	Incurred costs
Conversion to microfiche or microfilm	Monochrome	Microfiche	Incurred costs

Copies of some official publications are available on payment of a fixed charge or fee. For example, some publications held by Development Services fall into this category. A list of such publications and charges will be published in due course. In the meantime, please contact the relevant service provider within the Council for details of any such charges.
Where the Council sets non-standard charges or fees (as opposed to charges set by statute), it will do so only where it can demonstrate that there is good reason for it to do so, and in considering whether any such reason exists, it will:

take due regard of government guidance; and
disregard any costs, including staff costs, associated with the maintenance of the information in question or its identification or extraction from storage; and
disregard any factors beyond the number and size of sheets to be copied.

Access to unpublished information under Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations & Data Protection Act

Any printing or copying charges associated with access requests for unpublished information under the above legislation shall be charged in accordance with that legislation and official government guidance. Please refer to the Council's Freedom of Information Policy & Procedure Guide.

Copyright

Copyright is asserted by the Council in respect of all of the information provided by the Council in the public domain. The information, and any document or record in which it appears, must not be substantially reproduced except with the permission, in writing, of the Council, although minor extracts are reproducible without separate permission provided the source of the extract is clearly stated and the Council's interest is acknowledged. This constraint is not intended to restrict any lawful request for information.

The supply of documents to a member of the public does not grant the right to re-use this information in a way that would infringe any copyright on those documents.

Provision of information under this publication scheme or under access legislation does not give the recipient an automatic right to re-use it, for example, to publish it, or adapt it in any way. Most information supplied in response to an access request will be protected by copyright and permission to re-use it, will be required. The Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations provides a framework for obtaining this permission.