Freedom Of Information Act
Posted by Administrator (mikehenson) on Oct 28 2008
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Our interpretation of the new model is that a council needs firstly, adopt the new model at its next meeting in November/December and then construct an inventory of the documented information that it holds and can legally make available to the public.

This inventory then needs to be published in the locations where the council would normally publish its agendas, minutes etc. (eg. website, notice boards, library etc.)

In addition to a list of the documents the inventory needs to state against each item how and where the information can be viewed or obtained

So, against Agendas this would be "on the website and noticeboards five working days before the meeting, by appointment at the parish council office or by post on receipt of an application accompanied by a cheque made out to the parish council in the sum of £10".

Obviously the inventory would be laid out in tabular format with boxes ticked to indicate availability and instructions detailed at the bottom of the page.

Only the inventory document needs to be displayed on the website and not the actual documents themselves except of course for those documents like agendas and minutes which would normally feature.

However, if a council feels that there will be a large demand for any particular documents it could be advantageous to place these on the website in order to ease the burden on the clerk.

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This our interpretation of the model, if you believe that we have misunderstood the actions that need to be taken by a council please contact us with your comments.

Last changed: Oct 28 2008 at 14:59