Publication scheme

Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) is committed to meeting the statutory requirements under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and aim to make as much information as possible freely available on demand.

One of the ways in which this is done is by publishing information in a publication scheme which is designed to signpost individuals to information we proactively release as and when it becomes available.

A publication scheme fosters openness and increases transparency of what we do, what we spend, our priorities, decisions, and policies. It is designed to improve public access to the information we hold and also makes it easier for individuals to find and obtain the information they need without needing to make a written request. Our publication scheme follows the Information Commissioner’s model for public authorities.

All public bodies, under the Freedom of Information Act, must regularly produce and maintain a publication scheme. We review our publication scheme frequently to ensure it meets our aims and obligations.

At present, all the information we proactively release is available free of charge on our website. If in the future, we make information available but do not publish it on our website we will update this publication scheme to explain how you can access it. We will also explain any charges that may be necessary.

Charges made by Cheshire and Merseyside ICB for routinely published material will be justified and transparent and kept to a minimum. Charges may be made for information subject to a charging regime specified by Parliament. Charges may be made for actual disbursements incurred such as:

• photocopying
• postage and packaging
• 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, they are in all the circumstances, including the general principles of the right of access to information held by public authorities, justified and are in accordance with a published schedule or schedules of fees which is readily available to the public.

Charges may also be made for making datasets (or parts of datasets) that are relevant copyright works available for re-use. These charges will be in accordance with either regulations made under section 11B of the Freedom of Information Act or other enactments. Information held by a public authority that is not published under this scheme can be requested in writing, when its provision will be considered in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Please check our Publication Scheme and our Disclosure Log (which lists previous FOI responses) before lodging a Freedom of Information request, as they may well provide the information you require.

Further information about Freedom of Information requests can be found here.

Information available in our publication scheme

There are seven classes of information within a publication scheme for the health sector. These describe our organisation, role, priorities, governance, and how we account for expenditure.

Information not available through our publication scheme may be available on request.

The classes of information available in our publication scheme are:

Our publication scheme does not include information that we consider to be sensitive, such as certain types of commercial or personal information.

We shall review our publication scheme at regular intervals and monitor how it is operating.

Feedback

If you would like to provide any feedback or comments on our publication scheme please contact enquiries@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk or by post to: