Sussex Police Authority -
Freedom of Information

Sussex Police Authority Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities. A 'public authority' is defined in the Act, and includes but is not restricted to central and local government, non-departmental public bodies, the police, the health service and schools, colleges and universities. Any person who makes a request to a public authority for information must be informed whether the public authority holds that information and, subject to exemptions, supplied with that information.

Classes of Information

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, our Publication Scheme must say what classes, or broad types, of information the police authority already publishes or intends to publish. We aim to publish as much information as possible about our work through the scheme, except where it would not be in the public interest to do so, for example, because it might prejudice law enforcement or the health and safety of our staff, or our ability to secure best value from local policing because information is commercially sensitive.

For each class we briefly define the information contained in that class, the format in which it is available and whether the class includes chargeable material.

The classes of information are:

• What We Do
• Who We Are
• How We Work
• Our Policies and Procedures
• Involving You
• Our Plans, Performance and Reports
• Our Partners
• Press & Publicity
• Independent Custody Visitors' Scheme
• Other Visiting Schemes
• Information the Authority holds