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 Council
Rochdale 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 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 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.
In order to help you find the information you need, the
information which the Council publishes, or intends to publish,
through this Scheme is divided into a number of ‘classes.' Behind
each class of information there will be a number of documents
- for example leaflets, guides, plans, and so
on - and these will be continually updated. In order to help
you find a specific document, a searchable A-Z is being developed,
and the web version of the Publication Scheme contains links to the
relevant information where available. You can also contact the
Freedom of Information Officer.
These classes are grouped into the following categories,
reflecting the various services we provide and the different kinds
of work we do. You can trace the information you are looking for
from these categories, which are divided into sub-categories, and
then into classes, which describe in more detail what is available
in the scheme.
These are the categories of information covered by this
Scheme:
- Art, Leisure, Tourism and Heritage
- Community, People and Living
- Corporate Publications and News
- Council and Democracy
- Council Finances
- Council Tax, Benefits, Debts and Grants
- Customer Services, Advice and Complaints
- Education and Training
- Environment Health
- Environmental Management, Green Space and Parks
- Health, Welfare and Social Care
- Housing
- Jobs and Careers
- Libraries
- Planning, Regulation and Enforcement
- Policies, Strategies and Management Information
- Regeneration, Business and Partnerships
- Trading Standards, Shopping and Consumer Advice
- Transport and Streets
How will I request the information?
Help to find information will be available by visiting one of
our Customer Service Centres or contact the Freedom of Information
Officer.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, you do not need to have
any particular reason for requesting information, but it might help
the Council to identify and provide you with the information you
need if you can be as specific as possible.
You will be able to use information provided under the Act for
any purpose, and pass it on to any one else.
Will there be a charge for this information?
There will normally be no charge for making a request for
information that is available in the publication scheme.
Information published on this web site can be viewed /
downloaded free of charge. Most documents are also available for
inspection free of charge at libraries or Council offices.
You may get photocopies of most documents. However, charges may
be applied if significant amounts of work or copying of printed
material is required.
There may be a charge for a small number of specific documents.
If a charge is applicable this will be indicated in the publication
scheme under each class of information. The price of the document
will be specified at the time of the request.
From 1 January 2005 you may request information which is not
contained in the scheme (see below) and this will be charged in
accordance with the regulation fees under the Freedom of
Information Act.
How will the information be provided?
Information will if possible be provided in a variety of formats
- for example Braille, audio, different languages - upon request.
You can express your preference for the information to be provided
to you in a particular way, which can be:
- A copy in permanent form, or other form acceptable to you
or
- Provision of a reasonable opportunity to inspect a record
containing the information or
- Provision of a digest or summary
Can I see all Rochdale Council's information?
The Council is committed to including as much information in the
publication scheme as it can. If you have searched the publication
scheme and cannot find what you are looking for, you can make a
request for the information.
However, where some of the information comes within an "exempt"
category under the Freedom of Information Act or other relevant
legislation, it will be published with the exempt material deleted.
Information containing exempt material has been identified with a
double asterisk (**) in this publication scheme.
Exemptions in the Act can be absolute or qualified. Absolute
exemption means that the exempt information will not normally be
made available to you at all. Qualified exemption means that the
information will be made available to you, unless the public
interest in not disclosing it outweighs the public interest in
disclosure. This means that the Council will have to consider and
decide where the public interest is greater.
Some of the absolute exemptions include information that is or
relates to:
- Accessible by other means (including information included in
this Scheme)
- National security
- Court records
- Personal data (which is protected under the Data Protection
Act)
- Prohibited from disclosure by law
Qualified exemptions include information that is or relates
to:
- Investigations and proceedings
- Law enforcement
- Health and safety
- Commercially confidential
The classes most likely to include this kind of excluded
material are:
- Consultation documents
- Contacts
- Directories and registers
- Historical records
- Minutes
- Organisations and structure
- Performance information
- Procedures and Working Practices
- Project documents
- Property management information
- Reports
- Research
Part 2 - Definition of terms
In order to manage the huge amount of
information held by the Council, documents have been categorised
into the following classes or types:
- Adverts and announcements
- Information that the Council publishes directly in the press or
in other public venues.
- Advice and guidance
- Guidance notes prepared for staff and/or the public on a wide
variety of subjects.
- Agendas
- Lists of subjects to be considered at Council meetings.
- Application forms
- Forms submitted to the Council.
- By-laws
- Copies of current bylaws and orders made by the Council.
- Catalogues
- Inventories of collections held by the Council.
- Codes of practice
- Documented directions that instruct and guide officers and
members of the Council how to pursue their duties.
- Consultation documents
- Information relating to the views of local people on Council
services and plans.
- Contacts
- Names, addresses, and telephone numbers.
- Census data
- Statistical information based on the latest census conducted by
the National Statistics Office.
- Directories and registers
- Lists of individuals, businesses, organisations, services and
property held by the Council.
- Educational and campaign material
- Documents that highlight or explain specific issues or
problems.
- Factfiles
- Collections of previously published facts and figures brought
together for a particular subject or event.
- Fees and charges
- List of the Council's fees and charges for services as they are
published.
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- List of most common questions to the Council and their
corresponding answers.
- Historical records
- Archived information about people, places and events in the
Borough.
- Job details
- Details of all jobs within the Council that are currently
vacant together with a job recruitment pack comprising the job
advertisement, terms and conditions of employment, job description,
person specification, general information for applicants, further
particulars about the service in which the post is located and an
application form.
- Maps
- Geographical plans of the Borough.
- Minutes
- Records of decisions made at Council meetings.
- Organisations and structure
- Documents showing how services and decision-making bodies are
organised.
- Performance information
- Information about management and planning, targets,
performance, and inspections as it is published.
- Policies and strategies
- The policy framework of the Council, as defined in the
Council's Constitution, together with all other policies, plans and
strategies as the Council may, from time to time, be required by
statute or Government Direction to adopt or which the Council
itself decides to adopt and publish.
- Press releases and newsletters
- News and events information intended for staff and/or the
public.
- Procedures and working Practices
- Documented steps that specify how officers should carry out
their work
- Project documents
- Information relating to specific projects
- Publicity and promotional material
- Information on special events and projects organised by the
Council.
- Reports
- Background papers for Council meetings.
- Research
- Studies of specific subjects.
- Rules and regulations
- Enforceable orders or directions which specify how officers,
members of the Council and/or the public should act.
- Service guides
- Descriptions of Council services.
- Statutory documents
- Information which the Council has a legal obligation to
publish.
- Terms of reference
- Information about the scope and remit of Council
committees.