FOI Publication Scheme
The scheme commits the council:
- to proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, which is held by the council.
- to specify the information which is held by the council and falls within the classifications below.
- to proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information in line with the statements contained within this scheme.
- to produce and publish the methods by which the specific information is made routinely available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public.
- to review and update on a quarterly basis the information the council makes available under this scheme.
- to produce a schedule of any fees charged for access to information which is made proactively available.
- to make this publication scheme available to the public.
- to publish any dataset held by the council that has been requested, and any updated version it holds, unless the council is satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so; to publish the dataset, where reasonably practicable, in an electronic form that is capable of re-use; and, if any information in the dataset is a relevant copyright work and the public authority is the only owner, to make the information available for re-use under a specified licence.
The Council's Publication Scheme covers the following categories:
This information will not generally include:
- Information the disclosure of which is prevented by law, or exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, or is otherwise properly considered to be protected from disclosure.
- Information in draft form.
- Information that is no longer readily available as it is contained in files that have been placed in archive storage or is difficult to access for similar reasons.
In preparing this scheme the Council has taken account of the sort of information it is normally asked for and what people are interested in. The overall public interest of disclosure of information has also been considered.
What information is not covered by the scheme?
A large amount of the information held by the Council is personal and private to individuals and will not be published. Individuals who wish to access their own information can do so by making a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 2018, which can be found via How to make a Subject Access Request - West Lancashire Borough Council (westlancs.gov.uk)
Certain information may be exempt from disclosure or inspection under separate legislation, and where this may apply this information is excluded from publication.
The Council will also continue to publish material on a routine basis, in the form of guidance or assistance about various Council services. For example, information leaflets about changes to bin collections during public holiday periods.
Please note, as a Borough we are not responsible for Road, Education, Social Care, Children's Services, Public Health, Trading Standards, Domestic Violence and Warm Spaces. Lancashire County Council are responsible for these services. You can find more information on their website Classes of information - Lancashire County Council
The email address for Lancashire County Council is: FreedomofInformation@lancashire.gov.uk
The postal address is: Lancashire County Council, PO Box 78, County Hall, Fishergate, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 8XJ.
Charging Policy
The purpose of this scheme is to make the maximum amount of information readily available at minimum inconvenience and cost to the public. Charges made by the authority for routinely published material will be justified and transparent and kept to a minimum.
All of the information available on the Council’s website can be downloaded free of charge. Most printed information and leaflets are also available free of charge.
Charges may be made for information subject to a charging regime specified by Parliament. In line with guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the Council may make a charge for actual disbursements incurred, such as:
- To cover the costs of postage and packaging (in line with the relevant postal charges).
- To cover the costs for printing and copying
- The costs directly incurred as a result of viewing information.
Charges may also be made for information provided under this scheme where:
- They are legally authorised.
and
- Are in accordance with a published schedule or schedules of fees which is readily available to the public.
If a charge is to be made, confirmation of the payment due will be given before the information is provided. Payment may be requested prior to provision of the information.
If you can't find what you're looking for
You can search the website for information that we routinely publish, either by browsing through pages listed under the main headings of site, using the search function (at the top of every page of the site) or through the the A-Z of services ( at the foot of every page of this site.) Visit our searching this site page to find out more.
Alternatively you can make an official Freedom of Information request.
Feedback and Review
The Information Governance Operational Compliance Manager is responsible for the day to day maintenance and review of the publication scheme, which will be undertaken yearly, in line with guidance produced by the Information Commissioner, so that the scheme meets the needs of its users.
Performance data
We publish details of our compliance in responding to FOI and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests.
From 1st April 2024 onwards, we will publish these statistics quarterly for the periods ending June, September, December and March.
The data is published a month after the end of the quarter. This is because public authorities have up to 20 working days to respond to FOI and EIR requests, and reporting a month after the end of the quarter allows time for the outcomes of all requests made during that quarter to be captured.
Our Top 10 Most Common FOI Requests for each quarter within 2024/2025 can be found here.
If you have any questions or comments about the scheme, or if you require any further information please contact:
Email: freedomofinformation@westlancs.gov.uk
Telephone: 01695 585031
