24 – Publication Scheme – Reviewed & Adopted 16/02/2022
Gainsborough Town Council
Publication scheme
This Publication Scheme sets out the information the Council will make available as a matter of course. It does not mean that other information will not be provided, simply the information listed in the scheme is readily available.
Scope of the Publication Scheme
The Publication Scheme sets out the classes of information the Council has, or will make, available. Within each class is a list of documents or information. In general, correspondence sent or received by Councils and all information relating to private individuals is excluded throughout the scheme as this is personal data under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Information available from Gainsborough Town Council under the publication scheme
This guidance/template gives examples of the kinds of information that the ICO would expect Parish/Community Councils to provide in order to meet their commitments under the publication scheme.
We would expect Parish/Community Councils to make the information in this definition document available unless:
- it does not hold the information;
- the information is exempt under one of the FOIA exemptions or Environmental Information Regulations exceptions, or its release is prohibited by another statute;
- the information is readily and publicly available from an external website; such information may have been provided by the public authority or on its behalf. The authority must provide a direct link to that information;
- the information is archived, out of date or otherwise inaccessible; or,
- it would be impractical or resource-intensive to prepare the material for routine release.
The guidance is not meant to give an exhaustive list of everything that should be covered by a publication scheme. The legal commitment is to the publication scheme, and public authorities should look to provide as much information as possible on a routine basis.
Publishing datasets for re-use
Public authorities must publish under their publication scheme any dataset they hold that has been requested, together with any updated versions, unless they are satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so. So far as reasonably practicable, they must publish it in an electronic form that is capable of re-use.
If the dataset or any part of it is a relevant copyright work and the public authority is the only owner, the public authority must make it available for re-use under the terms of a specified licence. Datasets in which the Crown owns the copyright or the database rights are not relevant copyright works.
The Datasets Code of Practice recommends that public authorities make datasets available for re-use under the Open Government Licence.
The term ‘dataset’ is defined in section 11(5) of FOIA. The terms ‘relevant copyright work’ and ‘specified licence’ are defined in section 19(8) of FOIA. The ICO has published guidance on the dataset provisions in FOIA. This explains what is meant by “not appropriate” and “capable of re-use”.
| Information to be published | How the information can be obtained | Cost | |
| Class1 – Who we are and what we do (Organisational information, structures, locations and contacts) | (hard copy or website; some information may only be available by inspection) | ||
| Who’s who on the Council and its Committees | Website | free | |
| Contact details for Parish Clerk and Council members (named contacts where possible with telephone number and email address (if used)) | Members Staff including Town Clerk | free | |
| Location of main Council office and accessibility details | Richmond House, Richmond Park, Morton Terrace, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, DN21 2RJ Tel: 01427 811573 townclerk@gainsborough-tc.gov.uk | free | |
| Staffing structure | Website | free | |
| free | |||
| Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it (Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit) Current and previous financial year as a minimum | Website | free | |
| Annual return form and report by auditor | Website | free | |
| Finalised budget | Website | free | |
| Precept | Website | free | |
| Borrowing Approval letter | N/A | free | |
| Financial Standing Orders and Regulations | Website | free | |
| Grants given and received | hardcopy | ||
| List of current contracts awarded and value of contract | hardcopy | ||
| Members’ allowances and expenses | hardcopy | ||
| free | |||
| Class 3 – What our priorities are and how we are doing (Strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections and reviews) Current and previous year as a minimum | (hard copy or website; some information may only be available by inspection) | ||
| Parish Plan (current and previous year as a minimum) | N/A – | ||
| Annual Report to Parish or Community Meeting (current and previous year as a minimum) | hardcopy | ||
| Quality status | N/A | free | |
| Local charters drawn up in accordance with DCLG guidelines | N/A | free | |
| free | |||
| Class 4 – How we make decisions (Decision making processes and records of decisions) Current and previous council year as a minimum | (hard copy or website; some information may only be available by inspection) | ||
| Timetable of meetings (Council and any committee/sub-committee meetings and parish meetings) | Website and noticeboard (current only) | free | |
| Agendas of meetings (as above) | Website and noticeboard (current only) | free | |
| Minutes of meetings (as above) – n.b. this will exclude information that is properly regarded as private to the meeting. | Website | free | |
| Reports presented to council meetings – n.b. this will exclude information that is properly regarded as private to the meeting. | Current: Website Older: hardcopy | Free Usual fees | |
| Responses to consultation papers | See minutes | free | |
| Responses to planning applications | WLDC website | free | |
| Bye-laws | free | ||
| free | |||
| Class 5 – Our policies and procedures (Current written protocols, policies and procedures for delivering our services and responsibilities) Current information only | (hard copy or website; some information may only be available by inspection) | ||
| Policies and procedures for the conduct of council business: Procedural standing orders Committee and sub-committee terms of reference Delegated authority in respect of officers Code of Conduct Policy statements | Website Website Website Website Website | free | |
| Policies and procedures for the provision of services and about the employment of staff: Internal instructions to staff and policies relating to the delivery of services Equality and diversity policy Health and safety policy Recruitment policies (including current vacancies) Policies and procedures for handling requests for information Complaints procedures (including those covering requests for information and operating the publication scheme) | Website Website Website Website, News Feed Website | free | |
| Information security policy | Website | free | |
| Records management policies (records retention, destruction and archive) | Website | free | |
| Data protection policies | Website | free | |
| Schedule of charges (for the publication of information) | Website | free | |
| Class 6 – Lists and Registers Currently maintained lists and registers only | Currently hard copy only if available. Some items available by inspection only – which will be free of charge. | £0.20 per page, £1.00 for colour | |
| Any publicly available register or list (if any are held this should be publicised; in most circumstances existing access provisions will suffice) | N/A | ||
| Assets register | Website | free | |
| Disclosure log (indicating the information that has been provided in response to requests; recommended as good practice, but may not be held by parish councils) | N/A | free | |
| Register of members’ interests | Website | free | |
| Register of gifts and hospitality | Website | free | |
| free | |||
| Class 7 – The services we offer (Information about the services we offer, including leaflets, guidance and newsletters produced for the public and businesses) Current information only | (hard copy or website; some information may only be available by inspection) | ||
| Allotments | Website | free | |
| Burial grounds and closed churchyards | Website | free | |
| Community centres and village halls | Website | free | |
| Parks, playing fields and recreational facilities | Website | free | |
| Seating, litter bins, clocks, memorials and lighting | hardcopy | £0.20 per page, £1.00 for colour | |
| Bus shelters | hardcopy | £0.20 per page, £1.00 for colour | |
| Markets | N/A | ||
| Public conveniences | N/A | ||
| Agency agreements | hardcopy | £0.20 per page, £1.00 for colour | |
| Services for which the council is entitled to recover a fee, together with those fees (e.g. burial fees) | See webpage of relevant service (see above). Hardcopy on request. | £0.20 per page, £1.00 for colour | |
Pease contact:
Richmond House, Richmond Park, Morton Terrace, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, DN21 2RJ
Tel: 01427 811573
townclerk@gainsborough-tc.gov.uk
Most hardcopy information will also be available to be sent by email
SCHEDULE OF CHARGES
This describes how the charges have been arrived at and should be published as part of the guide.
| TYPE OF CHARGE | DESCRIPTION | BASIS OF CHARGE |
| Disbursement cost | Photocopying @ ..p per sheet (black & white) | £0.20* |
| Photocopying @ ..p per sheet (colour) | £1.00* | |
| Postage | Actual cost of Royal Mail standard 2nd class* | |
| Statutory Fee | In accordance with the relevant legislation (quote the actual statute) | |
| Other | ||
* the actual cost incurred by the public authority