ICO Policy on Publication Schemes

Purpose of review

The Information Commissioners Office has recently published a review of its advice to public bodies about Publication Schemes. The terms of reference were

• benchmark the effectiveness of existing schemes, in particular the extent to which they increase openness and transparency
• review the effectiveness of ICO procedures for approval
• to assess the use of schemes by the public and ease of access to information which they offer

The ICO carried out a survey using questionnaires, phone calls and through appropriate user groups.

What is a publication scheme?

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires over 100,000 public authorities in England & Wales to produce guides to information that they routinely publish. These guides are called publication schemes. The ICO's website has a dedicated section. The Act requires that the ICO regularly re-approves publication schemes.

What were the findings

The ICO's main finding were:

• There is a low-level of awareness of publication schemes
• Authorities want more guidance from the ICO about what publication schemes should contain
• Authorities want more help with the practicalities of operating a publication scheme

What's going to change

The ICO is going to develop new materials and advice on this issue. It is going to develop sector-specific guides and model documents and seek to work with user groups this year and next.

The Information Commissioner has said that the time scale for re-approval of publication schemes for all sectors will be now be between 1 June 2008 and 31 December 2008.

Comment

The obligation for publication schemes was one of the first parts of the FOIA to come into force with the last element (the public access right) not coming into effect until 1 January 205.

Although many have been critical of the ICO it is good to see that it is taken steps to gather feedback and act upon it.