Freedom of Information
What is the Freedom of Information Act?
The Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act) allows members of the public the right to access all types of information held by public bodies. It came into effect on 1 January 2005.
The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness and transparency, to help members of the public understand how Government and its public bodies work and the way in which decisions that affect all our lives are reached.
Under the Act, anyone is entitled to request information. You have the right to
- be told if JISC holds the information you want, and
- if we do, to be given a copy of it
There are some legal exemptions to this. Also you may be required to pay a fee to receive the information. Requesting information provides more detail.
See the Information Commissioner’s website for more information about the Freedom of Information Act.
Scotland has its own Freedom of Information Act and Information Commissioner.
JISC has adapted its publication scheme in-line with the Information Commissioner’s new guidelines for the 1st January 2009. For more information about publication schemes see the Information Commissioner’s website.
Publication Schemes make it easier to access government information - they are essentially a guide to the information a public authority routinely publishes or intends to publish. Under the FOI Act, every public authority is required to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme. The Scheme provides the public with a structured listing of any information released, with a commitment to make it available to all. Our Publication Scheme sets out the different types of information we make available, how to obtain the information, and whether we charge for providing it.
This Publication Scheme lists information which we have made a commitment to make available. Our aim is to make information available whenever we can legally do so, except where we consider release would cause significant harm. In such cases we will withhold information under an appropriate exemption in the FOI Act, however we will be required to explain to the applicant why we are not releasing information and may have to justify this to the Information Commissioner.
We must also comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and respect the privacy of individuals.
If the information you require is not included in the Publication Scheme, you can still ask if we have it and, if so, request to see it.
Some instances of documents made available under this Publication Scheme may have gaps in the text. This is because the information falls within an exemption. Where this is the case the document will be clearly marked to show where information has been removed and the exemption used. If you wish to complain about the use of an exemption see Requesting information.
Section 19(1) of the FOI Act states that it is the duty of every public authority to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme, to publish information in accordance with its Scheme and, from time to time, to review the scheme. Information will be added to this Scheme on an ongoing basis and we will review the Scheme regularly.
For further information about FOI
Information Commissioner's Office website
The Information Commissioner has provided guidance on Access to official information including a factsheet called 'Its public information' which gives further information on how to make a responsible and effective freedom of information request.