Responsibilities
All authorities which are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2019 (FOI) are obliged to adopt and maintain a Publication scheme specifying:
the classes of information which they publish or intend to publish;
the manner in which the information is or is intended to be published;
whether the material is or is intended to be made available to the public free of charge or on payment.
The purpose of the Verderers’ Publication Scheme is to ensure that as much information as possible is readily available to members of the public, without the need for specific consideration under the Freedom of Information Act, and to inform the public of the extent of material that is available. “Readily available” means that the information is included on our website or will be supplied promptly on receipt of a letter or telephone call to the Verderers’ Office. The classes of information that the Verderers of the New Forest publish or intend to publish, the format in which the information is available and whether the information is available free of charge or on payment is available in the full Verderers’ Freedom of Information Act Publication Scheme document.
FOI And The Verderers’ Publication Scheme
The Court of Verderers is a corporate body set up under the New Forest Act 1877. The Verderers are responsible for regulating commoning on the Forest and inquiring into unlawful inclosures. They also have wide ranging responsibilities in respect of development control and conservation. More information is included at Part 2, Section 1 (download available below).
The Verderers of the New Forest were brought within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act in June 2006. This publication scheme lists the information which is formally published either on this website (www.verderers.org.uk), or on request from the Clerk to the Verderers. Its purpose is to assist members of the public by showing and describing the information which is routinely made available.
Where requested, information will be provided either electronically or in hard copy as specified. The list is comprehensive and includes minutes of all formally convened meetings and any general information routinely held by the Verderers – excluding any exempt information (such as personal data). Apart from the fees charged for “Postal Searches” of the Atlases of Forest Rights (scale of charges shown at Section 9 of the document), there is normally no charge for providing one-off copies of any of the information listed in the Publication Scheme.
Charges for providing other information, such as copies of correspondence, will be in accordance with the regulations. Where the cost of this is less than the “appropriate limit” there will normally be no charge except that the actual costs of photocopying (not including staff time) and postage, may be charged for larger amounts.
Publication Scheme Manager
The Verderers’ Publication Scheme is the responsibility of, and is maintained by, Mrs Tina Woodley, the Verderers’ Grazing Scheme Administrator, to whom all enquiries on the Scheme should be directed in the first instance (details on the Contact page).
Download entire Verderers’ FOI Publication Scheme (Jan 14)
