Publication scheme

Under the Freedom of Information Act, Universities are classed as public authorities and as such are required to produce and maintain a publication scheme through which information must be made available proactively.

In July 2008 the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) introduced a new model publication scheme that all public sector organisations were required to adopt from 1 January 2009. The model publication scheme for higher education institutions lists classes of information that a University would normally hold.

The University must ensure that documents falling into the information classes described by the model publication scheme are made available to the general public.

The University is required to:

• Show which documents are routinely held (provided that the information they contain is not exempt from being published under the scheme).
• Provide information about the format in which the documents are available.
• Indicate how documents can be obtained or accessed, and detail any charges that may apply. View our charging policy to find out more.
• Produce or refer to a publication scheme of any wholly-owned subsidiary companies.