Classes
These are the groupings that information in the publication scheme is divided in to. They have been set by the Information Commissioner's Office as part of the model scheme that an organisation has to adopt.
Commercial subsidiaries
The ±«Óãtv's commercial subsidiaries, such as ±«Óãtv Studios Ltd are separate legal entities and as such are not covered by the Freedom of Information Act. Other subsidiaries include ±«Óãtv Children in Need and ±«Óãtv Media Action.
Exemptions
These are set out in the legislation and are the legal reasons why an organisation may decide not to release information to an individual upon request. Exemptions fall into two categories; non-qualified and qualified. When a qualified exemption applies the organisation must undertake a public interest test.
FOIA - Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act came into force in January 2005 and is intended to make information held by public authorities available to the public to demonstrate transparency and encourage openness.
GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation
The GDPR gives users relating to their personal information.
I.C.O. - Information Commissioner's Office
The Information Commissioner's Office is the regulator responsible for ensuring that organisations covered by the FOI Act adhere to the legislation. For more details visit the .
I.R. - Information Rights
Information Rights is the name of the team in the ±«Óãtv that is responsible for managing Freedom of Information Act requests received by the ±«Óãtv. Please note that they do not advise the ±«Óãtv how to make requests to other organisations.
Media regulators
The ±«Óãtv is accountable to both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Ofcom. DCMS is the Government body responsible for broadcasting and creative industries in the UK. Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries.
Public Authorities
The Freedom of Information Act only applies to public authorities as defined in the Act and includes companies that are wholly owned by public authorities.
Public interest test
The public interest test favours disclosure where a qualified exemption applies. In such cases, the information may be withheld only if the public authority considers that the public interest in withholding the information is greater than the public interest in disclosing it.
Public service broadcaster
Public service broadcasters are those that are funded from public funds and provide broadcasting services to ensure that the public are kept informed of necessary information. Channel 4 are also a public service broadcaster.
Publication scheme
The publication scheme sets out the information that the public authority makes routinely available, and assists the public in finding the information required.
Regulatory framework
The ±«Óãtv's Charter and Agreement require the ±«Óãtv to publish a range of documents explaining its purpose, setting its policies and priorities, and describing the remits of its services.
Vexatious request
A vexatious request is one that is intended to cause distress, disruption or irritation. Under these circumstances an organisation can refuse to handle requests that may be considered to fall under this guidance.
Working days
It is important to remember that organisations have 20 working days in which to respond to an FOI request. Working days do not include the weekends or public holidays in the UK.