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Freedom of Information
This is the publication scheme of Harrogate Borough Council. It has been produced by representatives of all the Council departments under the overall responsibility of the Freedom of Information Monitoring Officer.
What is the publication scheme?
Our publication scheme is a list of those classes of information which the Council is making available to the public as a matter of course and is part of the Council's commitment to open government.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by the Council; it also sets out exemptions from that right, and it places a number of obligations on the Council.
One of those obligations requires the Council to adopt and maintain a publication scheme setting out:
- the classes of information which the public can look at
- the manner in which we intend to make the information available
- whether a charge will be made for the information.
The purpose of the scheme is to ensure that as much information as possible is available as a matter of course without the need for specific requests.
What is not included?
The publication scheme does not include personal information falling under the Data Protection Act 1998. However, under that Act, individuals already have rights of access to information about themselves held by the Council.
Some of the classes of information in the new scheme exclude 'exempt' information. This means exempt under Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 or exempt under sections 21 to 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In each case 'exempt' means that the information will be kept confidential until it is released by the Council under the review procedure for exempt information required by the Council's constitution.
How is it published?
All information included in the scheme is available during normal office hours to look at on paper at the particular Council office named against each class of information.
Most of it is also published on the Council's website.
Is the information free and easily accessible?
The only class of information where there is a charge to look at the information is the Local Land Charges Register.
All the rest of the information may be looked at without payment. However, you may have to pay for certain publications if you want to take them away. These are marked in the publication scheme as having a charge. In addition, you will have to pay if you want other documents to be photocopied for you or specially printed off from a computer.
The publication scheme and the documents in it are available in the first language of the district, namely English. If you have any difficulty with English, or if you require large print or otherwise need particular assistance, please contact Reception at the Council Offices, Crescent Gardens, Harrogate, telephone 01423 556013.
How well does the publication scheme work?
Although the Council is used to publishing a wide variety of information, both voluntarily and as a statutory duty, this is the first time we have produced a formal publication scheme.
We are therefore keeping the scheme under review and hope to add further classes of information to it in due course. We have also tried to put the classes into a structure that makes it easy for you to find the information you want.
If you have any comments about what else might be included in the publication scheme, or about its ease of use, please contact the Freedom of Information Officer.