Freedom of Information Act 2000 Publication Scheme

MALDON HARBOUR IMPROVEMENT COMMISSIONERS

This Publication Scheme, approved by the Commissioners on 14 June 2012, is based on the Model Publication Scheme prepared and approved by the Information Commissioners and as such can be adopted without modification by any public authority without further approval and be valid until further notice.

This Scheme commits the Commissioners to make information available to the public as part of its normal activities. The information covered is included in classes of information mentioned below, where it is held by the Commissioners. Additional assistance is provided to the definition of these classes in sector specific guidance manual issued by the Information Commissioner.

1 INTRODUCTION

The scheme commits the Commissioners:-

To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, which is held by the Commissioners and falls within the classifications below;

To specify the information which is held by the Commissioners and falls within the classifications below;

To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information in line with the statements contained within this scheme;

To produce and publish the methods by which the specific information is made routinely available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public;

To review and update on a regular basis the information the Commissioners make available under this scheme;

To produce a schedule of any fees charged for access to information which is made proactively available; and

To make this publication scheme available to the public.

CLASSES OF INFORMATION Who we are and what we do

The Maldon Harbour Improvement Commissioners (MHIC) are the statutory harbour authority for the Port of Maldon. The Commissioners are incorporated by Act of Parliament through The Maldon Harbour Order 1865 for ‘the improvement, maintenance and regulation of the Harbour at Maldon in the County of Essex’. The main functions are to ensure safe navigation in the fairway, including the provision and maintenance of 11 lit and unlit buoys, within the area that is the jurisdiction of the Commissioners, i.e. ‘in and over the whole of the River Blackwater’ from Fullbridge, up Heybridge Creek, and downstream to a point some 70 metres above the Chelmer and Blackwater Canal lock entrance at Heybridge Basin.

A maximum of 12 Commissioners are permitted to be appointed under the Order. The only employed officer, on a part-time basis, is the Clerk to the Commissioners.

(ii) What we spend and how we spend it

Income is generated from harbour dues determined each year. Expenditure is incurred mainly on insurance, administration and buoy maintenance.

(iii) What our priorities are and how we are doing

To maintain a serviceable balance; to meet targets set by Trinity House for ‘down-time’ of navigation aids; to maintain information showing the fairway; to keep under review the financial position of the Commissioners.

(iv) How we make decisions

Decisions of or on behalf of the Commissioners are made at Ordinary and Special Meetings of the Commissioners or otherwise in accordance with the approved Standing Orders, Terms of Reference and Delegated Powers and Financial Regulations.

(v) Our policies and procedures

There are no specific policies other than the priorities stated in Paragraph 2(iii) above. Procedures are incorporated within the documents referred to in Paragraph 2(iv) above.

(vi) Lists and Registers

The only Lists or Registers maintained are those listed in Section 3 below.

(vii) The services we offer

These are limited to the functions outlined in Paragraph 2(i) above.
The above classes of information outlined above will not generally include:-

 Information, the disclosure of which is prevented by law, or exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, or is otherwise properly considered to be protected from disclosure;

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