Freedom of Information Policy
Introduction
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is designed to promote greater openness and transparency throughout the public sector. Under the Act any person, has rights of access to recorded information held by the School, subject to certain limited exemptions.
Ysgol Coed-Y-Gof is committed to openness and transparency in the provision of information to all persons or organisations who request it. This policy outlines our response to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and a framework for managing requests.
Copies of reference documents, such as policy statements and procedural guidance will be provided free of charge or as published in our Publications Scheme which is available from the School office.
Dealing with a request
Your request must be in writing (letter, email or fax) to ensure that we have a clear statement of what is requested.
We will provide information promptly, subject to the following conditions, which are based on our duties under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
We will respond to your request within 20 working days*.
*Please note: Working days refers to term time only as contained in Freedom of Information Act Statutory Instrument 3364.
In some circumstances, we may withhold the information you have requested under one of the exemptions applicable under the legislation.
Whilst we will provide most information free of charge, we may charge a fee for photocopying/printing/faxing/postage of longer documents where the required information is not listed in our Publications Scheme as being available either free of charge or at a stated charge. If you ask for information in an expensive alternative format, we may charge for this, subject to legislation, such as the Disabilities Discrimination Act. (See ‘Charges’ below).
If we intend to charge for the provision of information, we will tell you in advance what the charge will be (through a fees notice) and will provide the information when we receive payment (cash or cheque). The time allowed for us to provide the information (20 working* days) does not include the period between the issuing of the fees notice and the receipt of the payment.
We may be unable to provide the information you request for any for the following reasons:
If we are unable to provide the information we will do all we can to advise you as to how you might obtain the information elsewhere or in a different way to keep the cost down.
Ysgol Coed-Y-Gof will seek advice from the Local Authority’s Information Governance Team as necessary to clarify any points or to help resolve any disputes over information requests.
Publication Scheme
Ysgol Coed-Y-Gof has adopted the Model Publication Scheme for
Schools approved by the Information Commissioner.
Charges
The general charge for photocopying, printing and faxing or emailing information as an attachment is 10p per sheet. Postage charges will be at the appropriate rate. For more substantial items, the fee charged depends on whether we estimate that it would cost more or less than £450.00 to provide the information.
In the vast majority of cases the cost will be under £450.00 and we will then charge only for photocopying, printing, faxing and postage. We may also charge for any work required to put the information into the required format, which could involve, for example:
We will not normally charge for providing information in an alternative format where this is requested on grounds of disability.
Complaints
If you do not accept our reasons for declining to disclose the information requested you should write to the Chair of Governors at the school in the first instance. If you are not happy with their response, you may wish to contact the Information Commissioner at:
The Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 – Helpline is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
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