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  5. Guide to the West Lothian Council Publication Scheme 2017
  6. Charges

Charges

Unless otherwise indicated, all information contained within our publication 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.

Each class of information will clearly show if a charge may apply to information within that class. Unless otherwise stated, the charges which apply will be based on the charging policy set out below. In the event that a payment is required for the information you want, 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.

We reserve the right to impose charges for providing information in paper copy or computer disc/alternative formats. West Lothian Council is mindful of its obligations under equality and anti-discrimination legislation when setting charges for alternative formats. Charges will reflect the actual costs of reproduction and postage to the authority, as set out below.

Reproduction costs

  • Photocopying/Printing - A4 10p per side (black & white) - 21p per side (colour)

  • Photocopying/Printing - A3 21p per side (black & white) - 42p per side (colour)

  • Printing is free for customers who are accessing the public PCs for job search purposes, however printing is restricted to 10 copies per session

Postage

  • Charged at the cost to the Council of sending the information by first class post

Where the council has pre-printed publications, these will be charged according to how much it actually cost the council to have them professionally printed.

For example, if West Lothian Council has produced a formal report, and it costs us £500 to print a stock of 100 reports, then the actual printing cost paid by the council is £5 per report. We therefore reserve the right to charge you up to £5 per report plus actual postage costs as charged by Royal Mail, but no more than this.

Please note, that if you are interested in a large printed document, we can provide you with copies of selected relevant pages rather than charge you for a full printed copy of the document. The copying charges that would apply are as set out above. Our staff can advise you.

If we make any charges for documents within our information classes which do not comply with this charging policy, these will be approved on a case by case basis by the Scottish Information Commissioner. We will publish the value and details of such charges on the council website.

The charging schedule does not apply to our commercial publications. These items are offered for sale through retail outlets such as book shops, academic journal websites or museum shops and their price reflects a "market value" which may include the cost of production.