JISC Legal : Freedom of Information

The FOI Essentials paper provides introductory guidance on the general right of public access to recorded information held by public authorities including colleges and universities.

This overview paper describes the relevance of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) for FE and HE.

In October 2007 JISC infoNet launched the new Business Classification Scheme and Records Retention Schedule for Higher Education institutions.

RecordKeeping was published quarterly between 2004 and 2009 covering news, case studies and examples of best practice from The National Archives and the wider archives and records management communities. 

This section contains details of policies and legislation that relate to or have an impact on archives and records management, such as the Data Protection Act, the Freedom of Information Act and the current acts relating to archive services at local and regional levels.

The vast majority of government records are now produced electronically and The National Archives works with central and local government organisations to ensure that this information is both stored securely and easily accessible.

Good records and information management is essential if the government is to meet the requirements of Data Protection, Freedom of Information and Human Rights legislation.  Under agreement with the ICO this is done through a programme of information management assessments.

Records management ensures the effective and consistent management of the information created or received by an institution throughout its lifecycle.

In certain circumstances, student work can be the subject of a valid freedom of information (FOI) request.

This paper summarises the legal issues involved in the development and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in learning and teaching.

This Toolkit designed by King's College Records Management and Legal Compliance teams aims to promote good information handling across the College.

This paper examines the exemptions which may apply to dissertations in terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

This paper applies to Scotland and examines the issue of whether a valid Freedom of Information (FOI) request can be made for undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations.

This 10 minute video is useful for further and higher education establishments when introducing the subject of Freedom of Information to staff.

The document examines the application of the 'public interest test' under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in relation to the exemptions that are available to public authorities.

This paper summarises the current thinking surrounding the application of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to contracts entered into by or with public authorities

This paper summarises the current thinking surrounding the application of the FOISA in relation to intellectual property.

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A generic Model Action Plan, produced by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland, to assist Scottish public authorities in the development of records management arrangements which comply with the Freedom of Information Scotland Act (2002) section 61 Code of Practice on Records Management. 

The Office of the Information Commissioner's website provides a wealth of information and guidelines on both data protection and freedom of information.

JISC infoNet - Infokit on Records Management - http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/InfoKits. In addition the schedules provide guidance on retention times for institutional records. They are organised according to broad subject areas such as financial resources, human resources and information services. They replace an earlier JISC document published May 2003 (JISC Study of the Records Lifecycle - http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=srl_structure) The schedules for FE are available at - http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/projects/records-retention-fe/database-status. The schedules for HE are available at - http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/partnerships/records-retention-he.

In order to assist Scottish public authorities (including education institutions) who wholly own active or dormant companies, the Scottish Information Commissioner has prepared model schemes. The model schemes can be accessed from the web site at:
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/web/FILES/pocdormant.doc  and
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/web/FILES/pocactive.doc.

Responsibilities of the FOI unit were transferred to the newly created Ministry of Justice on the 9th May 2007. The Unit carries out the development of the Government's policy.
http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/guidancefoi.htm.

An example of a records management policy, produced by the Scottish police in consultation with various central agencies such as the Scottish Criminal Records Office. Version 2 produced by the ACPOS FOI group on 25th April 2005.
http://www.centralscotland.police.uk/foi/docs/acpos_records_retention_schedule.pdf.

The CFOI has campaigned against unnecessary secrecy and for the Freedom of Information Acts in the UK.
http://www.cfoi.org.uk/.
The site includes an easy to read guide on the FOI legislation for both Scotland and the UK, with additional commentary on other relevant related legislation such as the Environmental Information Regulations and Data Protection.
http://www.cfoi.org.uk/pdf/foi_guide.pdf.

Part of the Campaign for Freedom of Information (CFOI) web site specifically dealing with legislation for Scotland
http://www.cfoi.org.uk/scotland.html.

This list is maintained for the discussion of FOI issues relevant to FE and HE institutions in the UK. More details on how to join the list, are at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/freedom-of-information.html.

The Lord Chancellor's "Code of Practice on the Management of Records" issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the Department for Constitutional Affairs website at - http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/reference/statCodesOfPractice.htm.
Section 61 Freedom Of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Code of Practice: Records Management (November 2003)
On the Scottish Executive web site at - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/FCSD/MCG-NW/00018022/s61code.pdf.

The fees regulations under FOI broadly cover 2 areas- (1) Fee charges for information provided through the publication scheme and (2) fee charges for specific information requests.

As PhD theses contain information which is held by the institution, in general, they will be subject to FOI requests as with any other information held.

No, the Act provides that information is information recorded in any form.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to all information held by a college.

Scotland has its own Freedom of Information legislation. 

There are a number of aspects to this which must be considered.

There is no definition under S.14 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 as to what constitutes a vexatious request.

Questions based on FOI queries sent to our enquiry service.

Came into force on 31 December 2009.   

Further to consultation on The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, the Home Office has published new Codes of Practice that will come into force on 6 April 2010.

A council were found to be in breach of the Data Protection Act after sensitive personal data relating to social work records were found in a filing cabinet bought by a member of the public.

The consultation on a revised code of practice can be found on the Scottish Government website.

Results are in from Scottish Government's FOISA survey on Section 61 Code of Practice on Records Management.

ICO issues handbook on handling personal information and managing privacy risks.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published new guidance to help institutions identify appropriate charges for requests received under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).