How to adopt a publication scheme

This page provides advice to authorities who are due to adopt a publication scheme. It may be that your authority already has a publication scheme and the Commissioner's approval for it is about to expire (see the Commissioner's timetable for expiry dates of publication schemes), or you may work for a new authority which has still to adopt its first publication scheme.

The first thing you need to do is to decide whether to adopt the Commissioner's Model Publication Scheme or to develop and adopt a scheme which is "bespoke" for your authority.

Model or bespoke?

The Commissioner strongly recommends that you adopt the Model Publication Scheme 2012 to all authorities:

It is based on the experience of best practice gained by the Commissioner and the Scottish public sector in eight years of operating publication schemes.
Consistency of approach by all public authorities is beneficial to the public.
The scheme is already approved by the Commissioner.

You can read more about model schemes in the model publication scheme section of this website.

The option is still available, however, to authorities to submit a "bespoke" scheme of their own design to the Commissioner for approval. You can read more about this approach and what is involved in the bespoke publication scheme section. When approving bespoke schemes, the Commissioner assesses any submissions against the standard of the model publication scheme.

Advice and guidance

Whether your authority decides to adopt a model scheme or to submit a bespoke scheme, we recommend that you refer to the Commissioner's model publication scheme section where you will find the Commissioner's guidance. This sets out:

a definition of "publication"
the types of information that the Commissioner expects authorities to publish (if they hold it)
charging principles
advice about availability, formats and copyright statements.

Not found what you were looking for?

The Commissioner's Policy and Information Team is responsible for publication scheme approvals. We are pleased to provide advice and guidance to authorities about adopting a scheme or to point you to the relevant materials on this website. Please contact us with any queries.