Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) act 2002 requires Scottish public authorities to produce and maintain a publication scheme. Authorities are under 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

The Scottish Legal Aid Board has adopted the Model Publication Scheme 2015 produced by the Scottish Information Commissioner. You can find more information on the Model Publication Scheme through the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.

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
• explain how to request information we hold that has not been published

You can access the Guide to Information in pdf format or you can contact us to ask for a hard copy to be posted to you.

The information we publish through the Publication 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).

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 redact the information before publication and explain why.

Where the Scottish Legal Aid Board holds the copyright in its 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
• the source of the material is identified

Where the Scottish Legal Aid Board does not hold the copyright in information we publish, we will make this clear.

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, e.g. photocopying and postage, 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.

Size of paper Pence per sheet of paper
A4 £0.016

Postage costs will be recharged at the rate we paid to send the information to you.

When providing copies of pre-printed publications, we will charge no more than the cost per copy of the total print run.

We do not pass on any other costs to you in relation to our published information.

Please note that this charging schedule does not apply to our commercial publications (see Class 8 below). These items are offered for sale through retail outlets such as book shops, academic journal websites or museum shops and their price reflects a ‘market value’ which may include the cost of production.

You can contact us for assistance with any aspect of this publication scheme. We will also advise you how to ask for information that we do not publish or how to complain if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of this publication scheme. You can contact us in the following ways:

E-mail: foi@slab.org.uk (please only use this email address if your query is about freedom of information. If you have any other type of query, contact us at general@slab.org.uk)

Write to:
FOI publication requests
Chief Executive’s Office
Scottish Legal Aid Board
Thistle House
91 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5HE

Telephone: 0131 240 2078 or 0131 240 1963

Personal visit: You may prefer to visit us in person to ask for or get information from our Publication Scheme. It is helpful if you contact us first to arrange an appointment.

If you would like to give us your comments, suggestions or have a complaint about our Publication Scheme, please contact our Corporate Support Manager, Andrew McIntosh whose contact details are given below. Colin Lancaster, our Chief Executive, has overall responsibility for the Board’s Publication Scheme.

Andrew McIntosh
Corporate Support Manager
Scottish Legal Aid Board
Thistle House
91 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5HE

Tel: 0131 240 2191
Email: foi@slab.org.uk