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Freedom of Information Act

General Information

Your Parish Council is striving to make available Parish Council information on written request to people resident in this parish. In so doing, your Council is following the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This includes what is called a Publication Scheme for Parish Councils. Copies of the Publication Scheme will be available on request at monthly Parish Council meetings and posted on the Village website www.silchester-pc.gov.uk as soon as the scheme is approved by the Information Commissioner.

This is a new initiative and as parishioners are aware, your Parish Council has modest resources. We therefore have to charge for this information, to account for some of the costs of production. Our Publication Scheme will be revised from time to time.

Silchester Parish Council has a policy of accountability to residents and an aim to be as open and transparent in its dealings as possible. We welcome public interest and involvement in our community local government.

What Charges are there?

Where a member of the public is seeking to obtain a copy of information included in this Publication Scheme, the Council may set reasonable charges for this. Costs are available on application by post to the Clerk and may include photocopying costs, postage (where incurred) and staff time.

Confidentiality Notice

Silchester Parish Council is to be as open as possible and supply the information requested but the Parish Council may withhold any information if it considers its release not to be in the Public interest and could cause significant harm. Any sensitive and confidential information is exempt from public information. Any exclusion as prescribed by law is contained in the publication scheme.

Requests for information

Anyone can request information in writing or by e-mail. The request must include details of the applicant and the information sought. The applicant has two rights, to be told whether the information is held by local council and to receive the information as a copy or summary, if considered to be in the public interest. The Parish Council will have to respond within 20 days of the request. If a fee is required, the Parish Council can extend this period up to 3 months until the fee is paid.

Cally Morris
Parish Clerk
December 2004

Publication Scheme under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Silchester Parish Council
Electorate 746

The purpose of this publication scheme is to be a means by which the council can make a significant amount of information available routinely. The scheme will ensure that the council will publish more information pro-actively and help it to develop a greater culture of openness and transparency. This authority’s key responsibilities are to represent the electorate of its areas, to take action within the legal framework and to provide a leadership focus for the community.

CORE CLASSES OF INFORMATION

Council Internal Practice and Procedure

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Minutes of council, committee and sub-committee meetings (limited to last 2 years)	A4 Loose Leaf Sheets available	YES
Procedural standing orders	NALC standing orders Resolutions at AGM	YES
Council’s annual report to parish meeting	A4 Loose Leaf Sheets available	YES

Code of Conduct

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Members’ declaration of acceptance of office	Monitoring Officer at District Council holds this	District Council policy refers
Members’ register of interests	Parish Council would direct all applications to the Borough/District Council	Yes
Register of Members’ interests book	Available to view at the end of every Parish Council meeting	Yes

Periodic Electoral Review

This is information concerning changes to the electoral arrangements for Parish councils. It includes recommendations for the creation of new wards the amendment of existing wards, proposals for the names of new wards and alterations to the number of councillors to be elected to the council.

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Information relating to the last Periodic Electoral Review of the council area.	Parish Council would direct all applications to the Borough/District Council	N/A
Information relating to the latest boundary review of the council area	Parish Council would direct all applications to the Borough/District Council	N/A

Employment Practice and Procedure

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Terms and conditions of employment	A4 Loose Leaf format available	YES
Job descriptions	A4 Loose Leaf format available	YES

Planning Documents

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Responses to planning applications	Standard Borough/District Council planning response form in loose leaf format. Available by post. Length of document 1 to 3 pages. Please specify which planning application and date for ease of reference. (only last two years available)	YES

Audit and Accounts

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Annual return form - limited to the last financial year	A4 Loose Leaf format available	YES
Annual statutory report by auditor (internal and external) - limited to the last financial year	A4 Loose Leaf format available	YES
Receipt/payment books, receipt books of all kinds, bank statement from all accounts - limited to the last financial year	Viewing by appointment at a public place	YES
Precept request - limited to the last financial year	A4 loose leaf format available.	YES
VAT records - limited to the last financial year	A4 loose leaf documents available.	YES
Financial Standing Orders and regulations	Under development	YES
Assets register - includes details of commons/village greens owned by the council, including management schemes for commons as well as village halls, community centres and recreation grounds	Computerized and updated periodically	YES
Financial risk assessments	Under development	YES

Development and Implementation of Policy

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Policy statements issued by council	Recreation Ground users rules	Yes
Responses made by council to consultation papers	Eg. District Local Plan	Yes
Analysis of responses received to public consultations by the council	Dealt with individually as they arise	Yes
Village appraisal	Not applicable at present	N/A
Complaints handling procedure	Model Complaints procedure adopted Dealt with individually as they arise	Yes

Byelaws

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
For the regulation of a pleasure ground or public place	A4 loose leaf format available	Yes
For the regulation of an open space or burial ground	A4 loose leaf format available	Yes
For the control of dogs and dog fouling	A4 loose leaf format available Statutory guidelines are adopted	Yes

Council Circulars/Newsletters

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Parish Council Guide	Village website with Parish Council pages being updated	No
History of Parish		N/A

Arts, Entertainment & Tourist Information
(Relates only to information produced by the Parish Council)

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Village Hall	Run as a Charity, supported by Silchester Parish Council. Information is available from Village Hall Committee and is published around the Village	N/A

Best Value

This information which encompasses the duty owed by a council to the local people, to provide good quality services at an acceptable cost, to continually improve the delivery of public services and to marshal such services across its entire area.

Information	Available Format	Charge (yes/no)
Best Value performance plan	Under development	N/A
Best Value inspection reports	Under development	N/A

EXCLUSIONS

Core Classes of Information

Employment Practice and Procedure

‘Personal records’, i.e. appraisals, employee specific salary details, disciplinary records, sickness records and the like by virtue of being personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Planning Documents

Copies of planning consultations, the Development Plan, Structure Plan, Local Plan and Rights of Way/Footpath maps, all of which are available from the local planning and/or highway authority respectively.

Audit and Accounts

All commercially sensitive information, eg. quotations and tenders, loan documentation and insurance policies. With regard to quotations and tenders, this information is treated as confidential to ensure that the whole tender process is fair, i.e. if tender information is released to a third party prior to the end of the tender period, those who initially submitted tenders could be undercut and/or unfairly disadvantaged. Once a tender has been accepted it will be made available.

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