(A pdf version of this policy is available for download here)
Information available from St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council under the Model Publication Scheme
This model publication scheme has been prepared and approved by the Information Commissioner. It may be adopted without modification by any public authority without further approval.
This publication scheme commits an authority to make information available to the public as part of its normal business activities.
The information covered is included in the classes of information mentioned below, where this information is held by the authority. Additional assistance is provided to the definition of these classes in sector specific guidance manuals issued by the Information Commissioner.
The scheme commits an authority:
- To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, which is held by the authority and falls within the classifications below.
- To specify the information which is held by the authority 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 regular basis the information the authority 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 authority that has been requested, and any updated versions it holds, unless the authority 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 the terms of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, if they apply, and otherwise under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act section 19. The term ‘dataset’ is defined in section 11(5) of the Freedom of Information Act. The term ‘relevant copyright work’ is defined in section 19(8) of that Act.
| Information to be published | How the information can be obtained. | |
| Who we are and what we do
(Organisation information, structures, locations and contacts) |
||
| Organisation information | St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council – Local Authority | |
| Council structure | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Staffing structure | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Location of parish council office and accessibility details | Office 2, Brannel Room 22 Fore Street St Stephen St Austell PL26 7NN Tel: 01726 823003 www.ststepheninbrannel-pc.gov.uk Open Monday to Friday between 9.30am to 12.30pm or by appointment at all other times. This information is on all forms of correspondence, the Parish Council website, social media accounts, Cornwall Council website and the Annual Report newsletter. |
|
| Contact Details of the Clerk | Tel: 01726 823003 clerk@ststepheninbrannel-pc.gov.uk This information is on all forms of correspondence, the Parish Council website, social media accounts, Cornwall Council website and the Annual Report newsletter. |
|
| Councillor Profiles | This information is available on the Parish Council website. | |
| What we spend and how we spend it
(Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit) |
||
| Annual return and report by external auditor | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Budget including precept | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Expenditure over £500 | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Procurement and contracts awarded | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Members allowances and expenses | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website and is posted on the noticeboards as well as being included in the Annual Report newsletter. | |
| Financial Regulations & Standing Orders | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| What our priorities are and how we are doing
(Strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections and reviews) |
||
| Parish Plan | This document is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Neighbourhood Development Plan | Currently in progress, updates are available from the Parish Council Office, the Parish Council website or the NDP bespoke website. | |
| Annual Report | This document is delivered to every household in the Parish on the open electors register and is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Strategic Plan (formally Action Plan) | This document is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Local Council Award Scheme | This document is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| How we make decisions
(Decision making processes and records of decisions) |
||
| Timetable of meetings | This document is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Agendas | This document is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website and posted on the noticeboards. | |
| Minutes | Signed adopted minutes are available from the Parish Council Office while draft minutes are on the Parish Council website. | |
| Responses to planning applications | This information is available from the Parish Council Office, the Parish Council website or Cornwall Council website. | |
| Scheme of delegation | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website. | |
| Our policies and procedures
(Current written protocols, policies and procedures for delivering our services and responsibilities) |
||
| Policies and procedures for the conduct of Council business. | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website | |
| Policies and procedures for the employment and management of staff | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website | |
| Policies and procedures concerning data protection | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website | |
| Policies and procedures for the publication of information | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website | |
| Lists and registers
(Any information we are currently legally required to hold in publicly available registers) |
|
| Members’ Register of Interests | This information is available from the Parish Council Office, the Parish Council website or Cornwall Council website. |
| Register of gifts and hospitality | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website through minutes. |
| Any publicly available register or list | This information is available from the Parish Council Office. |
| Asset register | This information is available from the Parish Council Office. |
| The Services we offer
(Information about the services we offer, including leaflets, guidance and newsletters produced for the public and businesses. Details of the services for which we are entitled to recover a fee together with those fees) |
|
| Air Quality Monitoring | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Allotments | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Brannel Room (Community hall) | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Bus shelters | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Car parks | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| CCTV | This information is available from the Parish Council Office |
| Cemeteries and closed churchyards
|
This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Commercial properties | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Defibrillators | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Footpaths | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Grant funding | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Highway signage | This information is available from the Parish Council Office |
| Litter bins | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Newsletter (Annual report) | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Noticeboards | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Parking (Off road) | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Public conveniences | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Salt bins | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| School Governors | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Seating (Roadside) | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Street Lighting | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Traffic calming (Speed Indication Devices) | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| War memorials | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Weed Spraying (Highway) | This information is available from the Parish Council Office or the Parish Council website |
| Agency Agreements | This information is available from the Parish Council Office |
| A summary of services for which the Council is entitled to recover a fee and details of those fees | This information is available from the Parish Council Office |
Additional information
Requests for information other than the broad classes of information which will routinely be made available to the public as detailed above should be addressed to:
The Clerk
St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council
Office 2, The Brannel Rooms
22 Fore Street
St Stephen
St Austell
PL26 7NN
Tel: 01726 823003
clerk@ststepheninbrannel-pc.gov.uk
Schedule of charges
Most of this information may be downloaded free of charge from the Council’s website www.ststepheninbrannel-pc.gov.uk
Other information may be viewed free of charge in the Parish Council office.
One copy of any document, which is not available for download from the website, will be supplied free of charge to any resident of St Stephen in Brannel Parish, for collection from the Parish Council office.
For multiple copies, and/or for documents which are requested to be posted, the charge will be the copying cost at 25p per single sheet (black and white) or 40p per single sheet (colour) and the cost of Royal Mail second class postage.
In accordance with the Model Publication Scheme provided by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the Parish Council reserves the right to make a charge for the disbursement of officer time (administration – currently charges at £25 per hour), photocopying and postage of complex and archived material.
Refusing a request for information
Below is a statement from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) which explain when the Parish Council may have to refuse providing you with the information requested. Further information can be found at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-freedom-of-information/refusing-a-request/
“A requester may ask for any information that is held by a public authority. However, this does not mean you are always obliged to provide the information. In some cases, there will be a good reason why you should not make public some or all of the information requested.
You can refuse an entire request under the following circumstances:
- It would cost too much or take too much staff time to deal with the request.
- The request is vexatious.
- The request repeats a previous request from the same person.
In addition, the Freedom of Information Act contains a number of exemptions that allow you to withhold information from a requester. In some cases it will allow you to refuse to confirm or deny whether you hold information. Some exemptions relate to a particular type of information, for instance, information relating to government policy. Other exemptions are based on the harm that would arise or would be likely arise from disclosure, for example, if disclosure would be likely to prejudice a criminal investigation or prejudice someone’s commercial interests.
There is also an exemption for personal data if releasing it would be contrary to the Data Protection Act 2018.
You can automatically withhold information because an exemption applies only if the exemption is ‘absolute’. This may be, for example, information you receive from the security services, which is covered by an absolute exemption. However, most exemptions are not absolute but require you to apply a public interest test. This means you must consider the public interest arguments before deciding whether to disclose the information. So you may have to disclose information in spite of an exemption, where it is in the public interest to do so.
If you are refusing all or any part of a request, you must send the requester a written refusal notice. You will need to issue a refusal notice if you are either refusing to say whether you hold information at all, or confirming that information is held but refusing to release it.”
[Adopted by Full Council at the meeting held on Wednesday 10th May 2023 under minute number FPC135/23. Due for review in May 2024.]