Information not available under the scheme

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) provide a right of access to the environmental information we hold, and the Data Protection Act (DPA) provides a right of access to any personal information that we hold about you. These rights are subject to certain exceptions or exemptions.

Together, these three pieces of legislation provide rights of access to most information held by the council. However, there are other acts or regulations which provide a right of access to specific types of information held by local authorities, or which require registers to be publicly available. This includes information held on school pupils.  More information on this can be found on the Information Commissioner's website: Pupil Information (opens new window).  

How to make a request for information 

For more information on how to make an enquiry, Subject Access Request or lodge a complaint, please refer to the councils Data Protection Web Pages:   Data Protection

Charges for information which is not available under the scheme

The current council policy is not to charge for information requests made under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations, Pupils' Educational Records (Scotland) Regulations, or Subject Access Requests under the Data Protection Act. However, if this policy changes, then the charging schedules set out below would apply.

The charges for information which is available under this scheme are set out under our Charges page.If you submit a request to us for information which is not available under the scheme, the charges will be based on the following calculations:

General information requests under FOISA

• There will be no charge for information requests which cost us £100 or less to process.
• Where the cost is between £100 and £600, 10%  of the costs up to £600 can be charged. That is, if you were to ask for information that cost us £600 to provide, you may be asked to pay £50, that calculated on the basis of a waiver for the first £100 and 10% of the remaining £500.
• We are not obliged to respond to requests which will cost us over £600 to process
• In calculating any fee, staff time will be calculated at actual staff cost per staff members normal hourly salary rate, to a maximum of £15 per person per hour.
• We do not charge for the time to determine whether we hold the information requested, nor the time it takes to decide whether the information can be released. 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 three months from the date of the issue of the fees notice in which to decide whether to pay the charge. The 20 working day time limit to provide information is paused once the fees notice is issued and starts again when the fee is paid.  If you decide not to proceed with the request, there will be no charge to you.

Charges for environmental information under the EIRs

We do not charge for the time to determine whether we hold the information requested, nor the time it takes to decide whether the information can be released. 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 and how it has been calculated. 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. Charges are calculated on the basis of the actual costs to the authority of providing the information.

• Photocopying is charged at 10p per A4 sheet for black and white copying, 30p per A4 sheet for colour copying
• Postage is charged at the actual rate for first class mail
• Staff time is calculated at the actual cost per staff member hourly rate, to a maximum rate of £15 per person per hour
• The first £100 worth of information will be provided to you without charge

Where information costs between £100 and £600, you may be asked to pay 10% of the cost. That is, if you were to ask for information that cost us £600 to provide, you would be asked to pay £50, that calculated on the basis of a waiver for the first £100 and 10% of the remaining £500.

Where it would cost more than £600 to provide the information to you however, we will ask you to pay the full cost of providing the information, with no waiver for any portion of the cost.