Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 came into force on the 1st of January 2005.
You can read the Freedom of Information Act here. This legislation gives a general right of access to the information held by a broad range of Scottish public authorities. The Act covers all local authorities, health boards, universities, police forces and a large number of other public bodies. There is also similar legislation governing access to Environmental Information. You can read that here.
Publication Scheme
East Renfrewshire Council has produced a publication scheme. This document lists all the classes of information that we can make available. The publication scheme gives an introduction to the Council and to FoI more generally before listing the classes of information in detail. This version of the publication scheme was approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner in August 2009.
Scottish Information Commissioner
Freedom of Information is supported and policed by the Scottish Information Commissioner. His website has a wealth of further information on all aspects of Freedom of Information.
You can also find out more about FoI on the Scottish Executive website.
Making a request for information
If you want to make a request for information from the Council please remember to put in as much detail as you can about the information you require. We will offer as much help and advice as we can but if you are not specific enough we may need to contact you again to ask for further details.
Freedom of Information request
We will deal with your request as soon as we can, and in any event within twenty working days of receipt.
Exemptions
While Freedom of Information gives you access to a vast array of information there are a number of exemptions. The most important of these is personal information. Access to personal data continues to be regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998, and is overseen by the British Information Commissioner. The website has all you need to know about data protection and how you can access your own personal data. There are other exemptions under FoI, such as those relating to confidentiality, commercial interest, crime and national security. If these do have to be applied we will issue a refusal notice stating the reason why you have not been given the information that you had asked for. Please note that a fee can be levied for larger requests, and that requests which would cost more than £600 to deal with will be refused outright.
Annual Report
The Council produces an annual statistical report on the requests we have received and how these have been dealt with. The latest report can be viewed below.
Appeals
If you are not happy with the way we deal with your Freedom of Information enquiry you have the right to ask for a review of the decisions we have made.
If you wish to proceed to review, please contact:
Solicitor to the Council,Council Headquarters,
Rouken Glen,
Giffnock
G46 6UG
or by e-mail
If, after an internal review, you are still dissatisfied, you can contact the Scottish Information Commissioner.
If you have any comments on these pages or on Freedom of Information more generally, please contact:
Council Records ManagerLegal Services
Chief Executives Department
Council Headquarters
Rouken Glen,
Giffnock
G46 6UG
or by email.
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