The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act/ FOISA) requires Scottish public authorities to produce and maintain a publication scheme. Authorities 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

New Struan School has adopted the Model Publication Scheme produced by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

New Struan School is a Scottish public authority under FOISA. New Struan School is part of the parent charity, Scottish Autism. The FOISA legislation applies to information we hold and publish about the school and its educational activities, and not our residences or the wider organisation. Some information we publish may relate to Scottish Autism as a whole, for example, some policies, and we welcome the opportunity to provide people with as much information as we can to promote transparency and support citizens’ rights to access information about public bodies. However, under the legislation, we are only obliged to provide you with information that relates to the school’s educational activities.

New Struan School makes a lot of information available to the public, most of which is available on our website. Our Guide to Information explains what information we make available and how you can access it. If you do not find what you are looking for you can make a request for the information by emailing newstruan@scottishautism.org or writing to:

The Information Governance Manager
Scottish Autism
Whins Road
Alloa
FK10 3SA

We will answer your request within 20 working days. Sometimes there will be reasons why we cannot provide the information you requested. If that is the case, we will tell you why. If we refuse to give the information to you, we must tell you why. You can challenge our decision to keep information from you and ask us to review our response. If you are unhappy after the review, you can appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

More detailed information and guidance on FOISA can be found on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.

Personal Information

A request by an individual for information about himself/ herself will be exempt under FOISA and will be handled as a ‘subject access request’ under the Data Protection Act 1998. -  read our Data Protection Policy, including how to make a request for your information.

In certain circumstances, such a request may involve the release of associated third party information. FOISA extends access rights which already exist under the Data Protection Act 1998. Where an applicant specifically requests information about a third party, or where responding to a FOISA request would involve the disclosure of personal information about a third party, the request falls within the remit of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. However, we must apply the Data Protection Principles when considering the disclosure of information relating to living individuals. We cannot release third party information, if to do so would mean breaching one of the Principles.

Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Alongside the Act, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the EIRs) provide a separate right of access to environmental information we hold. This guide to information also contains details of the environmental information we routinely make available. You can find more information on the difference between FOISA and the EIRs on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.