Office of Public Sector Information

(2) The Keeper must, as soon as practicable after receiving a request for information to which this subsection applies, send a copy of that request to the authority which transferred the information; and it is for the authority, instead of the Keeper, to come to a decision as to whether the information is exempt information by virtue of any provision of Part 2 and to determine any question then arising by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b) of section 2(1) as respects the information.

(3) After receiving the copy, the authority must, within such time as will make it practicable for the Keeper to comply with section 10 as respects the request, inform the Keeper of the decision mentioned in subsection (2) and of any determination required by virtue of that decision.

(4) The Keeper must, as soon as practicable after receiving a requirement for review in which the specification under section 20(3)(c)(ii) relates to a decision made by the authority by virtue of subsection (2), send a copy of that requirement to the authority; and it is for the authority, instead of the Keeper, to review the decision and to do anything which is to be done under section 21(4).

(5) After receiving the requirement, the authority must, within such time as will make it practicable for the Keeper to comply with subsection (5) of section 21 as respects the requirement, inform the Keeper of what it has done under subsection (4) of that section and provide a statement of its reasons for so doing; and it is that information and statement which the Keeper shall, in the notice in writing, give in so complying.

(6) Subsections (2) to (5) also apply to information which is contained in a record transferred to the Keeper, before 1st July 1999, by the Secretary of State for Scotland and is not designated by the Scottish Ministers as open information for the purposes of section 3(4); but for the purposes of that application references in subsections (2) to (5) to “the authority” are to be construed as references to the Scottish Ministers.

Publication schemes

23 Publication schemes

(1) A Scottish public authority must—

(a) adopt and maintain a scheme (in this Act referred to as a “publication scheme”) which relates to the publication of information by the authority and is approved by the Commissioner;

(b) publish information in accordance with that scheme; and

(c) from time to time review that scheme.

(2) A publication scheme must specify—

(a) classes of information which the authority publishes or intends to publish;

(b) the manner in which information of each class is, or is intended to be, published; and

(c) whether the published information is, or is intended to be, available to the public free of charge or on payment.

(3) In adopting or reviewing its publication scheme the authority must have regard to the public interest in—

(a) allowing public access to information held by it and in particular to information which—

(i) relates to the provision of services by it, the cost to it of providing them or the standards attained by services so provided; or

(ii) consists of facts, or analyses, on the basis of which decisions of importance to the public have been made by it;

(b) the publication of reasons for decisions made by it.

(4) The authority must publish its publication scheme but may do so in such manner as it thinks fit.

(5) The Commissioner may—

(a) when approving a publication scheme, provide that the approval expires at the end of a specified period; and

(b) at any time give notice to an authority revoking, as from the end of the period of six months beginning at that time, approval of its publication scheme.

(6) The Commissioner, when—

(a) refusing to approve a proposed publication scheme; or

(b) revoking approval of a publication scheme,

must state the reason for doing so.

24 Model publication schemes

(1) The Commissioner may, in relation to Scottish public authorities falling within particular classes—

(a) prepare and approve model publication schemes; or

(b) approve such schemes prepared by other persons.

(2) If an authority which falls within the class to which an approved model publication scheme relates adopts that scheme without modification, no further approval of the Commissioner is required so long as that model scheme remains approved; but the approval of the Commissioner is required in relation to any modification of the scheme by an authority.

(3) The Commissioner may—

(a) when approving a model publication scheme, provide that the approval expires at the end of a specified period; and

(b) at any time publish, in such manner as the Commissioner thinks fit, a notice revoking, as from the end of the period of six months beginning at that time, approval of such a scheme.

(4) The Commissioner, when—

(a) refusing to approve—

(i) under subsection (1)(b), a proposed model scheme; or

(ii) any such modification as is mentioned in subsection (2),

must state the reason for doing so; or

(b) revoking approval of a model publication scheme, must include in the notice under subsection (3)(b) a statement of the reason for doing so.