Dataset disclosures under FOI must also be published in line with model publication schemes, says ICO

On 1 September new laws amending parts of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) ACT will come into force and require public bodies to disclose datasets "in an electronic form which is capable of re-use" when requesters ask for information to be provided in electronic form, subject to it being "reasonably practicable" to do so.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a reminder to public authorities that when disclosing datasets to requesters in line with the new FOI Act rules, they also need to publish the datasets in accordance with the model publication scheme they are subject to.

"An authority’s publication scheme must include a requirement to publish any dataset that has been requested, and any updated version that it holds, unless the authority is satisfied that it is not appropriate to publish it," the watchdog said in new guidance. "The authority is required to publish the dataset in a re-usable form, where reasonably practicable. If the information in the dataset is a relevant copyright work of which the authority is the only owner, then the authority is required to make it available for re-use under the terms of a specified licence."

Under freedom of information laws public authorities must "adopt and maintain" a scheme of publishing information, which must be approved by the ICO. The scheme has to "specify classes of information which the public authority publishes or intends to publish, specify the manner in which information of each class is, or is intended to be, published, and specify whether the material is, or is intended to be, available to the public free of charge or on payment".

The ICO has set out separate publication schemes for organisations operating in different parts of the public sector, such as central and local Government and higher education.

Whilst it is generally at public authorities' own discretion what they elect to charge others, if anything, to re-use information published through their publication schemes, new specific rules are to set out what they can legitimately charge others to re-use datasets disclosed under the reformed FOI framework.

Public authorities can legitimately decide to make dataset information subject to charges under the 'Charged Licence' agreement, or make use of the Non-Commercial Government Licence if they wish to restrict the re-use of its material for non-commercial purposes only.

Under new rules set out in The Freedom of Information (Release of Datasets for Re-use) (Fees) Regulations, which also come into force on 1 September, public authorities will be permitted to account for "the cost of collection, production, reproduction and dissemination of the relevant copyright work" and consider what "a reasonable return on investment" would be when setting charges for re-use of copyrighted dataset information they disclose under the amended FOI regime.

"Public authorities now need to take steps to ensure that the new text regarding datasets in the model scheme and definition documents is inserted into their own publication schemes and guides to information," the ICO said in a statement.