Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland

Publication Scheme

1.                  Introduction
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the FoI Act”) became law on 30 November 2000 and must be brought fully into force by 30 November 2005 at the latest. The FoI Act establishes the right of individuals to obtain access to official information to the greatest extent possible consistent with the public interest and the need to protect legitimate, confidential information. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities. A “public authority” is defined in the Act and includes, but is not restricted to, central and local government, non-departmental public bodies, the police, the health service, and schools, colleges and universities. Any person who makes a request to a public authority for information must be informed whether the public authority holds that information, and subject to exemptions, supplied with that information.
 
Individuals already have the right to access their own information held on computer and in some paper files under the Data Protection Act 1998. This is known as “subject access right”. As far as public bodies are concerned, the FoI Act will extend these rights to allow access to all the types of information held by the public body, whether personal or non-personal. A public body will not however be required to release information which is covered by any of the exemptions specified in the FoI Act. A full list of the exemptions may be found on the Lord Chancellor’s Department website (www.lcd.gov.uk).
 
The FoI Act is being brought into force in two parts. First, the requirement for public authorities to produce a Publication Scheme will be phased in by sector, beginning with central government in November 2002. The second part, the individual right of access to information, will come into force across all public authorities in January 2005.
 
The requirement for each public body to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme is an important feature of the FoI Act. The Publication Scheme must set out the classes of information which the body holds, the manner in which it intends to publish the information and whether this information will be available free of charge or on payment of a fee. The purpose of the Scheme is to ensure that a significant amount of information is available, without the need for a specific request. Schemes are intended to encourage organisations to publish more information pro-actively and to develop a greater culture of openness. A Publication Scheme is effectively a guide to the information held by a public authority which is publicly available.  
 
The Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland (“the FCBNI”) currently makes information available to the public in relation to its functions and activities. This information will continue to be available without the need to use the FoI Act..
 
This Publication Scheme provides information on the structure and activities of the FCBNI to assist members of the public to access information both outside and under the FoI Act.

The Scheme sets out:  

·        the classes of information which the Board publishes or intends to publish

·        the manner in which the information will be published

·        whether the information will be available free of charge or on payment of a fee . The classes of information are specified in Section 6 of this Scheme together with details of how and when the information will be published.

Details of fees are given in Section 5. Section 4 explains how and where to make a request for information.

The Scheme refers to all kinds of information. Publication does not refer solely to printed material. It also includes information in other formats such as electronic documents.

The Board will review its Publication Scheme on an annual basis.

2.                  The Role of the Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland
The Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland is a Non Departmental Public Body established under the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 and the Fisheries (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1983.
 
The FCBNI’s sponsor Department is the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Interpoint, 20 – 24 York Street, Belfast BT15 1AQ.
 
The FCBNI is responsible for the conservation and protection of the salmon and inland fisheries of Northern Ireland with the exception of those in the Foyle and Newry Areas which are the responsibility of the Loughs Agency of the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission.
 
The FCBNI provides a bailiffing service on an agency basis to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in respect of certain waters in the Public Angling Estate.
 
The FCBNI also carries out agency work on behalf of the Environment and Heritage Service of the Department of the Environment. This involves:

·        routine river monitoring

·        the investigation of pollution incidents in waters within the FCBNI’s jurisdiction there the source is suspected to be agricultural

 The FCBNI also investigates pollution incidents which result in a fish kill or fish in distress, irrespective of the suspected source of the pollution.

             
3.            The Structure of the FCBNI
 
The Board consists of not more than 24 people drawn from a range of interest groups and appointed by the Head of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.
 
The Board appoints an Executive Committee consisting of not less than three and not more than six Board members, one of whom is the Chairman or Deputy Chairman. The Executive Committee is responsible to the Board for monitoring and reporting on policy implementation, financial and other matters delegated to it by the Board. The Board also appoints an Audit Committee.
 
The day to day operations of the FCBNI are managed by a team led by the Chief Executive supported by the Deputy Chief Executive and the Support Manager. 19 field-based Fishery Conservation Officers and a Biologist report to the Deputy Chief Executive while the Support Manager is responsible for 6 administrative staff.

4.            How to Access Information  

The Chief Executive of the Board is responsible for the Publication Scheme on behalf of the Board. Mrs Fiona Lavery, the Board’s Support Manager, is responsible for maintaining the Scheme on a day to day basis.

 Requests for information should be made to:

Mrs F Lavery
Support Manager
Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland
1 Mahon Road
Portadown
Co Armagh
Northern Ireland
BT62 3EE

Tel:                        
028 3833 4666

Fax:                        
028 3833 8912
 
E-mail:                        
fiona@fcbni.org
 
 
Applications should provide as much detail as possible to enable FCBNI staff to identify the information sought. The application should also state whether the information is required in a particular way (for example, a photocopy or on computer disk). If anyone has difficulty in identifying the precise information which is required, or has difficulty in making the application in writing, the FCBNI’s Support Manager (contact details above) will be pleased to help.

   
5.      Fees and Charges
 
A single hard copy of the information sought will be supplied free of charge. Multiple copies of the same information will incur a charge.
 
Where the information requested is already available in a priced publication, the FCBNI will give the applicant details of the publication and where to obtain it. Legislation relevant to the functions and operations of the FCBNI is listed at Appendix 1. These publications do not however constitute a class of information in the FCBNI’s Publication Scheme.

 
6.            Classes of Information
 
The Scheme listed below has been complied to reflect the various work activities undertaken by the FCBNI and is intended to provide a framework

for accessing information. All the types of information held by the FCBNI have been reviewed and are included in the Scheme. The Scheme contains a number of broad topic areas, together with a summary of the types of publications to be found under each topic heading.

                 
The topics are:

Strategic managemet
Documents reflecting the FCBNI’s decision processes at Board and Committee level
 
Business Management
Documents relating to the internal structure and management of the FCBNI
 
Fisheries Conservation and Protection
Documents relating to the activities of the Board in the conservation and protection of the salmon and inland fisheries within its jurisdiction If exemptions have been applied, they are cited in the publication. The main exemptions which the FCBNI envisages may apply to certain information which may be requested by members of the public are as follows: 

·        information accessible to the applicant by other means (FoI Act Section 21)

·        information intended for future publication (FoI Act Section 22)

·        information held by the FCBNI for the purposes of investigations and proceedings conducted by the FCBNI (FoI Act Section 30)

·        information held by the FCBNI in relation to its law enforcement duties (FoI Act Section 31)

·        information held only be virtue of being contained in Court records etc (FoI Act Section 32)

·        information the disclosure of which would, or would be likely to, endanger the physical or mental health or safety of any individual

(FoI Act Section 38)

·        personal information (FoI Act Section 40)

·        information provided in confidence (FoI Act Section 41)

·        information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained (FoI Act Section 42)