When dealing with requests under Freedom of Information and Environmental Information the University will:
- acknowledge your request
- respond within 20 working days
- contact you for clarification, if you have not provided enough detail about what you want, or your request is not clear
- provide the information requested, if possible. Where it is not possible to provide the information we will explain this in the response, with relevant references to the legislation
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 allows for some information to be exempted from release. Should such exemption(s) apply, we will provide what information we can and also provide reasons why other information has not been released to you.
Reasons for not providing all the information requested under Freedom of Information could include:
- if the information you requested is already available. We will give help to find this information, rather than provide the information itself;
- if the University does not hold the information you have requested, then we will write to you to tell you this. Where possible, we will suggest alternative ways to find what you require;
- we may need to charge a fee to cover the costs of our search and any copying: if this applies, we will contact you to inform you of the amount. Until the fee payment is received, the information you require will not be released to you;
- the request contravenes any of the Data Protection principles.
A full list of the exemptions can be found on the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner's website.
In some cases a request for information under the Environmental Information Regulations may be refused or we may not be able to provide all the information you have requested. Below are a few examples of these:
Reasons for not providing all the information requested under Environmental Information Regulations could include:
- the University does not hold the information
- the request is manifestly unreasonable
- the request relates to information that is incomplete or unfinished
- the request contravenes any of the Data Protection principles
View a full list of the exceptions.
How to Complain
If you are unhappy with your response you have 40 working days to request a review. The University will then undertake an internal review and inform you of the result of that review. Details of this process will be given at the end of your initial response letter. For more information please see the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner's website.