from: www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/index/council/data_protection_and_freedom_of_information.htm

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 came into force onthe 1st of January 2005.

You can read the Act here.

This legislation gives, for the first time, 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.

Publication Scheme

East Renfrewshire Council welcomes FoI, and has produced a publication scheme. This document, which you can view here, 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. Please note that this is an amended version of the scheme for which approval form the Scottish Information Commissioner is awaited.

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, and can be accessed here. You can also find out more about FoI on the website of the Scottish Executive


Making a request for information

If you want to make a request for information from the Council, please [download the form]. 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.

There may be a charge for more extensive enquiries, but in any case we will endeavour to deal with your request within 20 working days.

If you want to see the procedures that the Council uses to manage Freedom of Information, there is a link here


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. His website has all you need to know about data protection and how you can access your own personal data. You can visit that site here.


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.


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.


Please write to:

Director of Central Services
Council Headquarters,
Rouken Glen,
Giffnock G46 6UG


If, after an internal review, you are still dissatisfied, you can contact the Scottish Information Commissioner. Youâll find all his details at the website given in the link above.