Freedom of Information

Policy and Charges

Records Management Policy

South Ayrshire Council is required under Section 53 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and in terms of the Code of Practice on Records Management issued under Section 61 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to make proper arrangements for the preservation and management of its records. To ensure that records are managed effectively, the Council has adopted a Records Policy as part of its records management programme detailing how it intends to manage its records. This relates to all areas of record keeping, including record creation, tracking, storage, retrieval, retention periods and disposal. This Policy details the Council’s commitment to ensuring that records are accurate and reliable, can be retrieved easily and are kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary. For further information on records management and the Council’s Records Management Policy, please contact the Ayrshire Archives.

Ayrshire Archives Centre
Watson Peat Building
Auchincruive
Tel:  01292 520647
Email:  archives@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Website:  www.ayrshirearchives.org.uk

Council records of historical interest that have been identified for permanent preservation have been transferred to the custody of the Council’s Archives. The contents of archives are not included in the publication scheme, although supporting information such as lists of content and guidance to finding information are. However, the contents of our archives are made accessible to the public and requests for access should be directed to the Ayrshire Archives Centre as detailed above.

Copyright

South Ayrshire Council owns the copyright in the information contained in this publication scheme unless otherwise stated. The information can be copied or reproduced (but not re-used – see below) without 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 and the copyright status acknowledged. The reproduction of the information for commercial purposes is prohibited.

The publication scheme may however contain information where the copyright holder is not South Ayrshire Council. 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.

Copyright works made by central government qualify for Crown copyright protection administered by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). Various categories of Crown copyright material can be reproduced without a formal licence. Information about Crown copyright material is available on the website of the Queens Printer for Scotland at: www.opsi.gov.uk

Re-use of Public Sector Information

Access to the information does not mean that copyright has been waived, nor does it give the recipient the right to re-use the information for a commercial purpose. If you intend to re-use information obtained from the scheme, and you are unsure whether you have the right to do so, you are advised to make a request to South Ayrshire Council to re-use the information. Your request will be considered under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 (RPSIs) for which a charge may be imposed. In the event that a charge is payable, you will be advised what this is and how it has been calculated

Guidance on the RPSI regulations can also be found on the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website at www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/psi-regulations/index.htm

Charging Policy

Unless a charge is otherwise stated at Section B: Classes of Information, information in the scheme is available free of charge where it can be downloaded from our website or where it can be sent to you electronically by email. Some publications, however, may involve a charge and where this applies a “£” sign will appear under the cost heading in the relevant class. In the event that a payment is required for the information, you will be advised of the charge 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 alternative formats. South Ayrshire 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 and will be at the rate detailed below. South Ayrshire Council does reserve the right to review this rate as part of the annual budget exercise and subsequently seek the Commissioner’s approval.

Reproduction costs (amend charges if required)
Black and white copy	10p per A4 sheet
Colour copy	30p per A4 sheet
Alternative formats (amend charges if required)
Computer disks	£1 per CD-rom / DVD
(insert others if required)
Postage
Charged at the cost to the Council of sending the information by first class post

Pre-printed Publications

There are a small number of pre-printed publications for which South Ayrshire Council makes a charge. These documents include, for example, the Local Plan. We do not make any charge for the inspection of any of the information which is made available via the classes in this publication scheme. These publications will be charged according to how much it actually costs the Council to have them professionally printed. For example, if South Ayrshire 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 each for a copy of the report – plus actual postage costs, as charged by the Royal Mail – but no more than this. Please note that, if you are interested in a large printed document, we can provide you with photocopies of selected relevant pages rather than charge you for a full printed copy of the document. The photocopying charges that would apply are as set out in the table above. Our staff can advise you.