Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act stipulates that every public authority is required to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme. The Publication Scheme should provide the public with a structured list of the types of information that a public authority makes available and should explain how they are accessible. The information included in a Publication Scheme should not only focus on the key areas of accountability of the organisation but also proactively include information that will be of particular interest to the public.
The Investors in People UK Publication Scheme comprises classes of information. Each class of information indicates whether some information may be exempt, how the information is or will be published, and whether a charge will be made for providing it. For example, information like minutes from a meeting will be published after a short delay.
In this Publication Scheme the term 'publication' has been interpreted broadly to refer to a variety of formats. This will include paper-based documents such as letters, reports, leaflets and books, and electronic documents such as computer files, databases and web pages. Electronic documents may be provided as a printout or via email. Investors in People UK intends that the majority of information will be available to be downloaded free of charge from the Investors in People website.
It should be noted that this scheme is not intended to be retrospective. The documents published will be the current versions.