As access rights came into force in January 2005, anyone is able to make a request for information, although the request must be in writing (letter or email).
The Act gives applicants two related rights:
- The right to be told whether the information exists
- The right to receive the information, where possible in the manner requested.
In some cases the information may be exempt from disclosure. The Design Council is then required to consider if the public interest in maintaining the exemption in question outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
One of the aims of the Act is that all public authorities should be clear and proactive about the information they make available. Section 19 of the Act requires each authority to produce a publication scheme listing information that is made available on a pro-active basis.
This includes:
- The classes of information the public authority publishes or intends to publish
- The manner in which they will be published
- Whether the information is available free of charge or on payment.
The aim of the publication scheme is to explain what information the Design Council routinely makes available and, wherever possible, to provide an easy method of accessing this information.
Download pdf of the Design Council's publication scheme