CODE OF OPENNESS
PURPOSE
1. This
Code supports the Government's policy of extending access to official
information and responding to reasonable requests for information except where
disclosure would not be in the public interest, as specified in the Appendix to
this Code.
2. The aims of the Code are:
·
to improve policy-making and the democratic process by
extending publication of the facts and analyses which provide the basis for the
consideration of proposed policy;
·
to protect the interests of individuals and employing
authorities by ensuring that reasons are given for administrative decisions,
except where there is statutory authority or established convention to the
contrary;
·
to support and extend the principles of public service
established under the Citizen's Charter.
Those particularly related to openness include:
·
publication of explicit standards of service;
·
openness about how public services are run, how much
they cost, who is in charge, and whether or not they are meeting their
standards;
·
full, accurate and where possible comparable
information, to be readily available in plain language, about what services are
being provided, what targets are set, and the results achieved;
·
well published and readily-available complaints
procedures to provide explanation, apology and, where appropriate, redress when
things go wrong.
·
to maintain high standards of care in ensuring the
privacy of personal and commercially confidential information;
·
to preserve confidentiality only where disclosure would
not be in the public interest or would breach personal privacy or the
confidences of a third party or the fiduciary duties of the Committee, in
accordance with statutory requirements and the Appendix to the Code.
3. Subject to the exemptions in the Appendix, the Code commits the Committee:
(i) to publish the
facts and analysis of the facts which the Committee consider are relevant and
important in framing major policy proposals and decisions; such information
will normally be made available when policies and decisions are announced; and
(ii) to release in
response to specific requests factual information related to the Committee's
areas of responsibility.
4. Except
in the circumstances specified in the Appendix to this Code, reasonable
requests for information relating to the policies, actions or decisions of the
Committee within the scope of the Code will be met. The Code does not require the Committee to acquire information it
does not possess, to provide information which is already published, to provide
material which it does not consider to be reliable information, or to provide
information which is provided as part of an existing charged service other than
through that service.
RESPONSES
TO REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
5. Responses
to requests for information will be given within a reasonable time, and where
information cannot be provided under the terms of the Code, an explanation will
normally be given. Information will be
provided as soon as practicable. The
target for response to simple requests for information will normally be ten
working days, but this may be extended when significant search or collation of
material is required, in which case an explanation will be given within the ten
working day period and an indication of the likely timescale.
CHARGES
6. No
charges will be made for processing simple requests for information. Where a request is complex and would require
extensive searches of records or processing or collation of information, a
charge, reflecting reasonable costs, may be notified to the applicant and is
payable before further work is undertaken.
PUBLICATIONS
7. Information
on the Committee's activities shall be published in the Annual Report and
Accounts, the Corporate Plan, the Report to Fund Members, and in other
newsletters, press statements and communications to members.
8. The
Annual Report and Accounts shall be made available to the Department of the
Environment, all employing authorities in the Fund and other parties with a
relevant interest.
INVESTIGATION
OF COMPLAINTS
9. Complaints
that information which should have been provided under the Code has not been
provided should be made in accordance with the Committee's published Complaints
Procedure, which provides details of independent contacts should the Committee
fail to resolve a complaint in respect of pensions administration. If the applicant remains dissatisfied, a complaint
of maladministration may be made to the Commissioner for Complaints
RECORDS
10. All
formal requests in writing for information whether in accordance with statutory
provisions, under this Code, or from the media, together with any complaints
related thereto, shall be referred to the Information Officer and a record
shall be kept of the details.
Appendix
REASONS
FOR CONFIDENTIALITY
The
following categories of information are exempt from the commitments to provide
information in this Code. The
exemptions will not be interpreted in a way which causes injustice to
individuals.
Internal
discussion and advice
Information
whose disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion,
including:
·
proceedings of Committee Meetings;
·
internal opinion, advice, recommendation, consultation
and deliberation;
·
projections and assumptions relating to internal policy
analysis of alternative policy options and information relating to rejected
policy options;
·
confidential communications with public bodies including
regulatory bodies.
Information
related to the Committee's individual investments which is market sensitive or
whose disclosure might be in contravention of insider dealing legislation.
Law
enforcement and legal proceedings
Information
whose disclosure could prejudice the administration of justice, including fair
trial and the enforcement or proper administration of the law.
Information
whose disclosure would be likely to prejudice the prevention, investigation or
detection of crime, or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
Information covered by public interest
immunity or legal professional privilege, or which could prejudice legal
proceedings, public inquiries or other formal investigations or proceedings
(whether actual or prospective) or whose disclosure is, has been or is likely
to be addressed in the context of such proceedings. This includes information relating to proceedings which have been
completed or discontinued, or relating to investigations which have or might
have resulted in proceedings.
Effective
management and operations of the public service
Information
whose disclosure could lead to improper gain or advantage or could reasonably
be expected to prejudice:
·
the competitive position of a department or other public
authority;
·
negotiations or the effective conduct of personnel
management, or commercial or contractual activities;
Information
whose disclosure would harm the proper and efficient conduct of the operations
of the Committee.
Public
employment, public appointments and honours
Personnel
records (relating to public appointments as well as employees of public
authorities) including those relating to recruitment, promotion and security
vetting.
Information,
opinions and assessments given in confidence in relation to public employment
and public appointments.
Information,
opinions and assessments given in relation to recommendations for honours.
Unreasonable,
voluminous or vexatious requests
Requests
for information which are manifestly unreasonable or are formulated in too
general a manner, or which (because of the amount of information to be
processed or the need to retrieve information from files not in current use)
would require unreasonable diversion of resources.
Publication
and prematurity in relation to publication
Information
which is or will soon be published, or whose disclosure would be premature in
relation to a proposed announcement or publication.
Privacy
of an individual
Unwarranted
disclosure to a third party of personal information about any person (including
a deceased person) or any other disclosure which would constitute or could
facilitate an unwarranted invasion or privacy or be in breach of the Data
Protection Act.
Third
party's commercial confidences
Information
including commercial confidences, trade secrets or
intellectual
property whose unwarranted disclosure would harm the competitive position of a
third party.
Information
given in confidence
Information
held in consequence of having been supplied in confidence by a person who:
·
gave the information under a statutory guarantee that
its confidentiality would be protected; or
·
was not under, and could not have been put under, any
legal obligation to supply it; and
·
has not consented to its disclosure.
Information provided in confidence by a
medical practitioner who has expressed the view that disclosure of the
information would be injurious to the person's health or welfare.
Statutory
and other restrictions
Information
whose disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment, regulation, European
Community law or international agreement.
Information
which could not be sought in a Parliamentary Question, or whose release would
constitute a breach of Parliamentary Privilege.