Freedom of information - advice
Your rights under the Freedom of Information Act include
access to a huge amount of information held by around 70,000
organisations, including local councils like ours.
Part 1: Preamble:
About Rochdale Borough Council
Rochdale Borough Council is committed to the freedom of
information, in promoting a shared understanding of the work we
undertake within the Council, and with our partners. Through this
publication scheme we aim to provide clear and timely information
about the way we make and carry out our decisions. We will deal
with individual requests for information by providing clear advice
and assistance courteously, promptly and effectively.
Rochdale is the second largest of the ten metropolitan boroughs
that make up Greater Manchester. It covers 62 square miles and has
a population of more than 200,000. Local government services for
the whole area are provided by Rochdale Borough Council. These
include education, housing (through an arms length management
company), social services, planning, highways, and environmental
services.
The Council would like the public to become more involved in
local government enabling us to become more responsive to the needs
of the people who live and work in the borough. The introduction of
the Freedom of Information Act is seen as a welcome opportunity
both to inform the public it serves, and to improve the way in
which it manages the vast amounts of information it holds. The
Freedom of Information Act provides an opportunity to make one of
Rochdale Borough Council's most important assets, information, more
widely available enabling the public to know and understand the
work of the Council through improved access to information.
What is freedom of information?
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to the Council, as
it does to all other public authorities. The Act gives a general
right of access to all types of recorded information held by the
Council. It sets out exemptions from that right and places a number
of obligations on the Council.
Since February 2003, the Council has been required to adopt and
maintain a publication scheme setting out:
- Classes of information that the Council publishes or intends to
publish
- The manner in which the information in each class is or is
intended to be published
- Whether the material is or is intended to be published free of
charge or on payment
From January 2005, any person who makes a request for
information to the Council must be informed whether the Council
holds that information and supplied with that information (subject
to exemptions, information on which is given below).
What is a publication scheme?
A publication scheme is a guide to the information that the
Council publishes or intends to publish in the future, whether on
paper, over the internet or by any other means.