Freedom Of Information
Under Section 19 of the Freedom
of Information Act 2002 every public authority must
have a Publication Scheme. This Scheme provides a reference
for the public about information routinely published
by the organisation.
Representatives from the Boards,
Trusts, Special Agencies and Councils worked together
to develop three model publication schemes for Northern
Ireland, one for the four Health Boards, one for Trusts,
Agencies and Councils and one for the Ambulance Service.
The three schemes developed, are
similar to those used in the rest of the United Kingdom.
The Freedom of Information Commissioner has now approved
the three model schemes for use in Northern Ireland.
A declaration was sent to the Freedom
of Information Commissioner notifying him that the
Council will use the Northern Ireland Model Publication
Scheme for Trusts, Agencies and Councils.
Following approval from the Information
Commissioner the Council produced a Publication Scheme
with 14 classes of information listed in the scheme.
This involved listing all documents published by the
Eastern Health and Social Services Council, under
the relevant class heading.
The Councils Freedom of Information
Publication Scheme was made available to the public
from 1 November 2003 both as a paper copy and on the
website.
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