Publication scheme

The Cabinet Office is committed to making transparency and accountability to the public a fundamental principle of how we do business.


The Freedom of Information Act encourages public authorities to make as much information as possible available to the public proactively. We do this by publishing the data that people need to understand who we are, what we spend and what we achieve.

Under the Act, we are required to adopt a publication scheme which contains information we routinely make available, and ensure that information is published in accordance with the scheme. Available information is grouped under the following ‘classes of information’.

Who we are and what we do

What we spend and how we spend it

What are our priorities and how are we doing

How we make decisions

Our policies and procedures

Our lists and registers

Services we offer

Archived information previously on our website is available from The National Archives.

Requesting information, giving feedback and further information

We make a significant amount of information available under our scheme. One of its benefits is that it makes information easily accessible without charge. This means that, in many cases, the information you are looking for will already be available and there will be no need for you to make a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act.

You can email a request including the words ‘publication scheme’ in the subject heading. There is no charge for information which is provided electronically.

If you ask for information available on our website to be provided in paper format it may be necessary to make a charge. Each case is considered separately. For example, if a large amount of photocopying is required, or if the cost of postage of a large volume of paperwork is very high.

Most of the information included in our scheme will be current. However, for certain classes of information, it may be necessary to publish the information retrospectively.

Information will not be available through the publication scheme indefinitely. We are committed to providing the public with as much information as is practically possible. It is important that the information we provide is relevant and up to date.

We welcome your feedback on our progress and your suggestions for data you would like us make available. You can also comment on specific datasets on www.data.gov.uk. The Freedom of Information Act encourages public authorities to make as much information as possible available to the public proactively.