Guide to information

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act) requires Scottish public authorities to produce and maintain a publication scheme.

Info Guide to Information last reviewed and updated 18 April 2024

Scottish public authorities are under a legal obligation to:

publish the classes of information that they make routinely available
tell the public how to access the information and what it might cost.

Link has adopted the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Model Publication Scheme.

The purpose of this Guide to Information is to:

allow the public to see what information is available (and what is not available) in relation to each class;
state what charges may be applied;
explain how to find the information easily;
provide contact details for enquiries and to get help with accessing the information; and
explain how to request information we hold that has not been published

The Guide is split into the following six sections:

Availability and formats

The information we publish through the model scheme is, wherever possible, available on our website. We offer alternative arrangements for people who do not want to, or cannot, access the information online or by inspection at our premises. For example, we can usually arrange to send information to you in paper copy (although there may be a charge for this - see charges below).

Exempt information

We will publish the information we hold that falls within the classes of information below. If a document contains information that is exempt under Scotland's freedom of information laws (for example sensitive personal information or a trade secret), we will remove or 'black out' the information before publication and explain why.

Copyright

Where we hold the copyright in published information, the information may be copied or reproduced without formal permission, provided that:

it is copied or reproduced accurately;
it is not used in a misleading context; and
the source of the material is identified.

Where we do not hold the copyright in information we publish, we will make this clear.

Charges

This section explains when we may make a charge for our publications and how any charge will be calculated. There is no charge to view information on our website or at our premises.

We may charge for providing information to you, but we will charge you no more than it actually costs us to do so. We will always tell you what the cost is before providing the information to you.

Our photocopying charge per side of paper is shown in the tables below: