| 1. Introduction to the Scheme |
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Carnegie College Publication Scheme Produced as required by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) provides individuals with a right of access to all recorded information held by Scotland’s public authorities. Anyone can use this right, and information can only be withheld where FOISA expressly permits it. Section 23 of FOISA also requires that all Scottish public authorities maintain a publication scheme. A publication scheme sets out the types of information that a public authority routinely makes available. This publication scheme has been approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner, who is responsible for enforcing FOISA. We are also obliged to review this publication scheme from time to time. The purpose of the publication scheme is to provide you with details of the range of information that we routinely publish. The scheme also provides details of how you can access this information and informs you whether it is free, or if there is a charge for the information. The purpose of our publication scheme is to let you know what information is readily available from us. By readily available we mean that the information can be obtained from us on request. Alongside FOISA, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the EIRs) provides a separate right of access to the environmental information that we hold. This publication scheme also contains details of the environmental information that we routinely make available. Where information is not published under this publication scheme, you can request it from us under FOISA or, in the case of environmental information, the EIRs. For further information on accessing information not covered by this scheme, refer to Section 11 – How to access information not available under the scheme. top 2. About Carnegie CollegeCarnegie College. The main function of Carnegie College is to provide lifelong learning for all, promoting social inclusion and a highly skilled workforce for Scotland. Carnegie College’s services include education, skills, training and specific support for unemployed people who wish to enter the labour market. Carnegie College is a further education college incorporated by the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992. Carnegie College is part of Carnegie College (information about Carnegie College ). Until 30 November 2007, Carnegie College was known as Lauder College. Some documents included within the Scheme may therefore still make reference to Lauder. All documents will be reviewed during academic year 2009-10. top 3. Preparing the Publication SchemeWhen preparing or reviewing our publication scheme, we are obliged by FOISA to have due regard to the public interest in providing access to the information that we hold which relates to:
This Model Publication Scheme was prepared by the Association of Scottish Colleges (ASC) in partnership with Universities Scotland's Freedom of Information Working Group. ASC made a consultation draft available to all member institutions. It also made the draft available to a number of stakeholders, including the trades unions recognised by ASC member institutions, The National Union of Students and the Scottish Consumers Council. Carnegie College has, with the approval of the Scottish Information Commissioner, adopted this Model Publication Scheme. The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the promotion and enforcement of the Act. top 4. Accessing Information under the SchemeInformation available under our publication scheme will normally be available through the routes described below. Section 12 – Classes of Information provides more details on the information available under the scheme, along with additional guidance on how the information falling within each “class” may be accessed. Online: Most information listed in our publication scheme is available to download from our website. In many cases a link within Section 12: Classes of Information will direct you to the relevant page or document. Where no such link is present, you can use our website’s “Search” facility at www.carnegiecollege.ac.uk. If you are still having trouble finding any document listed under our publication scheme, then please call Liz Buchanan on 0844 2480115 for further assistance. By email: If the information you seek is listed in our publication scheme but is not published on our website, we can send it to you by email, wherever possible. When requesting information from us, please provide a telephone number so that we can telephone you to clarify details, if necessary. By phone: Information can also be requested from us over the telephone. Please call Liz Buchanan on 0844 2480115 to request information available under this scheme. By post: All information under the scheme will normally be available in paper copy form. Please address your request to: Liz Buchanan, Carnegie College, Pittsburgh Road, Dunfermline KY11 8DY When writing to us to request information, please include your name and address, full details of the information or documents you would like to receive, and any fee applicable (see Section 6: Our Charging Policy for further information on fees). Please also include a telephone number so we can telephone you to clarify any details, if necessary. Personal visits: In limited cases, you may be required to make an appointment to view the information. In such cases, this will be set out within Section 12: Classes of Information, and contact details will be provided within the relevant class. Advice and assistance: If you have any difficulty identifying the information you want to access, then please contact Liz Buchanan on 0844 2480115 who will be happy to help. top 5. Information that we may witholdAll information covered by our publication scheme can either be accessed through our website or will be provided promptly following receipt of your request. Our aim in maintaining this publication scheme is to be as open as possible. You should note, however, that there may be limited circumstances where information will be withheld from one of the classes of information listed in Section 12 – Classes of Information. Information will only be withheld, however, where FOISA (or, in the case of environmental information, the EIRs) expressly permits it. Information may be withheld, for example, where its disclosure would breach the law of confidentiality, harm an organisation’s commercial interests, or endanger the protection of the environment. Information may also be withheld if it is another person’s personal information, and its release would breach data protection legislation Whenever information is withheld we will inform you of this, and will set out why that information cannot be released. Even where the document containing the information cannot be released, it may, in many cases, be possible to provide copies with the withheld information edited out. If you wish to complain about any information which has been withheld from you, please refer to Section 10 – Complaints. top 6. Our Charging PolicyUnless otherwise stated in Section 12 – Classes of Information, all information contained within our scheme is available from us free of charge where it can be downloaded from our website or where it can be sent to you electronically by email. We reserve the right to impose charges for providing information in paper copy or on computer disc. Charges will reflect the actual costs of reproduction and postage to the authority, as set out below. In the event that a charge is to be levied, you will be advised of the charge and how it has been calculated. Information will not be provided to you until payment has been received. Reproduction costs: Where charges are applied, photocopied information will be charged at a standard rate of 10p per A4 side of paper (black and white copy) and 30p per A4 side of paper (colour copy). Computer discs will be charged at the rate of £1.00 per CD-Rom. Postage cost: We will pass on postage charges to the requester at the cost to the authority of sending the information by first class post. top 7. Our Copyright PolicyCarnegie College holds the copyright for the vast majority of information in this publication scheme. All of this information can be copied or reproduced without our formal permission, provided it is copied or reproduced accurately, is not used in a misleading context, and provided that the source of the material is identified. The publication scheme may, however, contain information where the copyright holder is not Carnegie College. In most cases the copyright holder will be obvious from the documents. In cases where the copyright is unclear, however, it is the responsibility of the person accessing the information to locate and seek the permission of the copyright holder before reproducing the material or in any other way breaching the rights of the copyright holder. Wherever possible, this scheme will indicate where we do not own the copyright on documents within Section 12 – Classes of Information. Information about Crown copyright material is available on the website of the Queens Printer for Scotland at www.oqps.gov.uk. We can provide you with a copy of this information if you do not have internet access. top 8. Our Records Management and Disposal PolicyThe Document Retention Policy does not in all cases specify retention periods because these depend on the individual content and importance of the document. Therefore the Policy has been designed to give the reviewer the basis on which to consider the reasons for retaining any document. This will, in turn, give the basis for future reviews of the document. For example, if the reviewer reviews the document and determines that its only outstanding use is in relation to an audit, the reviewer can mark this on the document together with the date of the next review. If no audit is underway at the next review date, the document’s use has expired, and it can be destroyed. Carnegie College follows Carnegie College’s Document Retention Policy in relation to the creation, retention and disposal of its records. Download the full policy. top 9. FeedbackFOISA requires that we review our publication scheme from time to time. As a result, we welcome feedback on how we can develop our publication scheme further. If you would to comment on any aspect of this publication scheme, then please contact us. You may, for example wish to tell us about:
Please send any comments or suggestions to: Marianne Philp, Carnegie College, Pittsburgh Road, Dunfermline KY11 8DY Tel: 0844 2480115 e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it top 10. ComplaintsOur aim is to make our publication scheme as user-friendly as possible, and we hope that you can access all the information we publish with ease. If you do wish to complain about any aspect of the publication scheme, however, then please contact us, and we will try and resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. You can contact: Marianne Philp, Carnegie College, Pittsburgh Road, Dunfermline KY11 8DY Any complaint will be acknowledged within two working days of receipt and we will respond in full within twenty working days. You have legal rights to access information under FOISA and EIRs and a right of appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner if you are dissatisfied with our response. These rights apply only to information requests made in writing* or another recordable format. If you are unhappy with our responses to your request you can ask us to review it and if you are still unhappy, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner. The Commissioner’s website has a guide to this three step process, and he operates an enquiry service on Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. His office can be contacted as follows: Scottish Information Commissioner Kinburn Castle Doubledykes Road St Andrews Fife KY16 9DS Tel: 01334 464610 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Website: www.itspublicknowledge.info *verbal requests for environmental information are acceptable. top 11. How to access information which is not available under this SchemeIf the information you are seeking is not available under this publication scheme, then you may wish to request it from us. FOISA provides you with a right of access to the information we hold, subject to certain exemptions. EIRs separately provide a right of access to the environmental information we hold, while the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) provides a right of access to any personal information about you that we hold. Again, these rights are subject to certain exceptions or exemptions. Should you wish to request a copy of any information that we hold that is not available under this publication scheme, please write to Marianne Philp, Carnegie College, Halbeath, Dunfermline KY11 8DY. Charges for information not available under the publication scheme: The charges for information which is available under this scheme are set out under section 6 – Our Charging Policy. If you submit a request to us for information which is not available under this publication scheme the charges will be based on the following calculations: General information requests:
Charges for environmental information: We do not charge for the time spent to determine whether we hold the information requested, nor for the time it takes to decide whether the information can be released. However charges may be made for locating, retrieving and providing information to you. In the event that we decide to impose a charge we will issue you with notification of the charge (a fees notice) and how it has been calculated. You will have 60 working days from the date of issue of the fees notice in which to decide whether to pay the charge. The information will be provided to you on payment of the charge. If you decide not to proceed with the request there will be no charge to you. Charges are calculated on the basis of the actual cost to the authority of providing the information.
Requests for your own personal data: Individuals who will incur a charge for information will be advised of this prior to their request being processed in case they wish to cancel the request. top 12. Classes of information
More information is available in the Commissioner's Guide to Publication Schemes, available from the web site at http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/ top Back to Freedom of Information Menu |
