Part II Publication of Information by Local Authorities
2 Duty of authorities to publish information.
(1)
The authorities to whom this section applies are—
(a)
a county council;
F1(aa)
a county borough council;
(b)
a district council;
F2(ba)
a parish council;
(bb)
a parish meeting of a parish which does not have a separate parish council;
(bc)
a community council;
F3(c)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(d)
a London borough council;
(e)
the Common Council of the City of London;
(f)
the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
(g)
in Scotland, a F4council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;
F5(h)
a fire and rescue authority constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies;
(j)
F6 a police committee constituted under section 2 of the Police Act 1964 or in Scotlanda police authority constituted under section 2 of the M1Police (Scotland) Act 1967;
(k)
F6a combined police authority constituted in accordance with the provisions of an amalgamation scheme under section 21 of the Police Act 1964 or in Scotland, a joint police F7board constituted in accordance with the provisions of an amalgamation scheme under section 19 F7, 20 or 21B of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967; F8. . .
F9(ka)
a joint authority established by Part IV of the M2Local Government Act 1985;
F10(kaa)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F11(kab)
an economic prosperity board established under section 88 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009;
(kac)
a combined authority established under section 103 of that Act;
F12(kb)
the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority;
F13(l)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F16(1A)
This section also applies to an authority which—
(a)
is not within subsection (1) above;
(b)
is not within section 4(4) below; and
(c)
is, or is treated as, a smaller authority for the purposes of section 5 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (modification of that Act in relation to smaller authorities).
(2)
The Secretary of State may issue for the purposes of this section a code of recommended practice as to the publication of information by such authorities about the discharge of their functions and other matters (including forecasts) which he considers to be related.
F17(3)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)
A code may be prepared either by the Secretary of State or by some other person at his request.
(5)
The Secretary of State may from time to time revise or request some other person to revise the whole or any part of a code.
(6)
A code may specify—
(a)
that publication be made in periodical reports or in any other specified manner;
(b)
the occasions on which such publication is to made; and
(c)
the form which such publication is to take.
(7)
Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (6) above, a code may specify, as a manner of publishing information—
F18(a)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F19(b)
its inclusion in a statement of accounts prepared by an authority to which this section applies in accordance with section 3 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 or regulations under section 39 of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 or in an abstract of accounts prepared by such an authority in accordance with regulations under section 105 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973; or
(c)
its being made available for inspection by members of the public at an authority’s office or elsewhere.
(8)
A code may specify steps which authorities are to take to inform the public of the availability of the information.
(9)
Where a code specifies information as to the cost of the discharge of any of the functions of authorities, it may specify how the cost is to be determined.
(10)
More than one code may be issued under this section, and different codes may deal with—
(a)
different classes of information;
(b)
different kinds of authority or the same kind of authority in different circumstances or different areas;
(c)
different manners, forms or occasions of publication.
F20(11)
A code issued under this section applies to an authority within subsection (1A) above only in respect of information relating to a financial year during which the authority was within that subsection.
(12)
A function under this section or section 3 below that is expressed to be exercisable by the Secretary of State is exercisable by the Secretary of State (and not the Welsh Ministers) in relation to a person or body that—
(a)
is within subsection (1A), and
(b)
exercises functions in relation to an area that is partly in England and partly in Wales.
2 Duty of authorities to publish information.
(1)
The authorities to whom this section applies are—
(a)
a county council;
F21(aa)
a county borough council;
(b)
a district council;
F2(ba)
a parish council;
(bb)
a parish meeting of a parish which does not have a separate parish council;
(bc)
a community council;
(c)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F22
(d)
a London borough council;
(e)
the Common Council of the City of London;
(f)
the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
(g)
in Scotland, a F23council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;
F24(h)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F25(j)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F25(k)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F26(ka)
a joint authority established by Part IV of the M3Local Government Act 1985;
F10(kaa)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F11(kab)
an economic prosperity board established under section 88 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009;
(kac)
a combined authority established under section 103 of that Act;
(l)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F27
F28; and any other authority which is a best value authority for the purposes of Part I of the Local Government Act 1999 (best value).
F16(1A)
This section also applies to an authority which—
(a)
is not within subsection (1) above;
(b)
is not within section 4(4) below; and
(c)
is, or is treated as, a smaller authority for the purposes of section 5 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (modification of that Act in relation to smaller authorities).
(2)
The Secretary of State may issue for the purposes of this section a code of recommended practice as to the publication of information by such authorities about the discharge of their functions and other matters (including forecasts) which he considers to be related.
F29(3)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)
A code may be prepared either by the Secretary of State or by some other person at his request.
(5)
The Secretary of State may from time to time revise or request some other person to revise the whole or any part of a code.
(6)
A code may specify—
(a)
that publication be made in periodical reports or in any other specified manner;
(b)
the occasions on which such publication is to made; and
(c)
the form which such publication is to take.
(7)
Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (6) above, a code may specify, as a manner of publishing information—
F18(a)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F30(aa)
its dispatch with, or inclusion in—
(i)
a demand note for payment of rates issued under section 237(1) of the M4Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 ; or
F31(ii)
a notice given by virtue of regulations made under paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992
F19(b)
its inclusion in a statement of accounts prepared by an authority to which this section applies in accordance with section 3 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 or regulations under section 39 of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 or in an abstract of accounts prepared by such an authority in accordance with regulations under section 105 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973; or
(c)
its being made available for inspection by members of the public at an authority’s office or elsewhere.
(8)
A code may specify steps which authorities are to take to inform the public of the availability of the information.
(9)
Where a code specifies information as to the cost of the discharge of any of the functions of authorities, it may specify how the cost is to be determined.
(10)
More than one code may be issued under this section, and different codes may deal with—
(a)
different classes of information;
(b)
different kinds of authority or the same kind of authority in different circumstances or different areas ;
(c)
different manners, forms or occasions of publication.
F20(11)
A code issued under this section applies to an authority within subsection (1A) above only in respect of information relating to a financial year during which the authority was within that subsection.
(12)
A function under this section or section 3 below that is expressed to be exercisable by the Secretary of State is exercisable by the Secretary of State (and not the Welsh Ministers) in relation to a person or body that—
(a)
is within subsection (1A), and
(b)
exercises functions in relation to an area that is partly in England and partly in Wales.