Release title - Heading 1, lower case
News release: DD Month YYYY - Heading 2, lower case
When creating the news release, the page name should be in format YYYYMMDD. A press release created on 12 May 2011 would be called 20110512. We agreed this to ensure they were saved in activedtion on date order.
The page title is the title of the press release.
The Library Section used is in the 'Home' library, entitled 'News'.
Photo, if used, to the LHS of the heading and release date, as show above.
Text to start below the photo, if used.
Any quotes to be in italic.
Ends( in bold)
For further information contact the Commissioner's Media Team on 01334 464610, out of hours on 07976 511752, or email media@itspublicknowledge.info.
Notes to Editors: (also bold)
Standard notes to editors covering brief details abut the Act and the Commissioner - those below taken from recent release - for discussion. Additional notes relevant to the release can be included first.
About the Freedom of Information legislation:
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (which came into force on 1st January 2005) provides individuals and organisations with a right to receive the information held by over 10,000 public authorities in Scotland. The Act applies to the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland, as well as all of Scotland's police forces, local authorities and universities.
Under FOI any written request for information must be responded to within 20 working days. Information can only be withheld where the FOI Act expressly permits it. Information can be withheld, for example, where its release would breach someone's right to privacy under data protection legislation, or where it would harm national security or an organisation's commercial interests. Even where an exemption applies, however, in many cases the Act also says that information must be released if it is in the public interest to do so.
There is a three-step process to requesting information. This works as follows:
- Step 1 – the request stage – an individual writes to an authority to request information. In most cases, the information will be provided first time, and there will be no need to move on to the later stages. Where information is refused, however, the FOI Act requires that the authority inform the requester of his/her rights of appeal in relation to the decision.
- Step 2 – the review stage – the first stage of this right of appeal is to write to the authority asking it to review its handling of the original request. The authority has a further 20 working days to reconsider the request and respond. If it continues to withhold the information, it must notify the requester of his/her right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner
- Step 3 – the application stage – an individual can appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner. On receipt of an appeal application, the Commissioner will conduct a full investigation into the public authority's handling of the request. If he finds that the authority has withheld information incorrectly, he can force the authority to release it. He may also uphold the authority's decision to withhold information.
About the Scottish Information Commissioner:
Kevin Dunion was appointed as the first Scottish Information Commissioner in February 2003. In February 2008 he was reappointed for a second, and final term, for four years until 2012.
Kevin previously worked with Oxfam Scotland as Campaign Manager, and was Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland. From 1996 to 2000 he also served as Chairman of Friends of the Earth International. Prior to his appointment as Scottish Information Commissioner he was for many years a prominent campaigner for freedom of information, establishing two research projects into the performance of public bodies in Scotland with regards to providing access to information, and giving evidence to the Justice Committee as it scrutinised the passage of the FOI Bill through the Scottish Parliament.
Kevin is Co-Director of the Centre for Freedom of Information, a joint venture with the Dundee School of Law. He is also Rector of the University of St Andrews.