Publications and Accessing Information

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 gives people the right to request information from Scottish public authorities to understand how they work, how they make decisions and how they spend their money. This legislation was extended to include registered social landlords and some of their activities connected to the provision of social housing on 11 November 2019.

As such River Clyde Homes and its subsidiary, Home Fix Scotland (together the RCH Group) are required to adopt and maintain a publication scheme and respond to information requests.

The RCH Group has adopted the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Model Publication Scheme and produced a 'Guide to Information' which:

• allows you to see what information is available (and what is not available) in relation to each class;
• states what charges may be applied;
• explains how to find the information easily;
• provides contact details for enquiries and to get help with accessing the information; and
• explains how to request information that has not been published.

If you wish to make a FOI request please contact us on InformationGovernance@riverclydehomes.org.uk or use our information request form. To avoid any delay, you should give sufficient detail to allow us to identify the information you are requesting.

Before requesting information, please look at the Publication Scheme and the guide to the information we publish to find out whether the information is already available. Doing this could save you time because if the information has already been made available to the public in this way, we would normally refer you back to that source.

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 give the public right of access to environmental information held by Scottish public authorities.

"Environmental Information" covers a broad range of topics, such as:

• the environment itself, including air, water, earth, and the habitats of animals and plants;
• other things that affect the environment, such as emissions, radiation, noise and other forms of pollution;
• policies, plans and laws on the environment.

For further information about what environmental information covers, click here.

How to make an Environmental Information Request

If you are unable to find the environmental information you are looking for and you wish to make a request, you can do so by by contacting us at InformationGovernance@riverclydehomes.org.uk or using our information request form. Alternatively, you can write to us or call us on 0800 013 2196.

How long will it take to respond to my request?

We will make environmental information available to any person who requests it within 20 working days (or, where the request is large and complex, within 40 working days).

Will I have to pay for the information I receive?

Requests for environmental information must be processed under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) rather than the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

As with FOISA, it is possible to charge a fee for providing environmental information on request, although the specific charging rules are different.  In marked contrast to FOISA, there are no upper or lower limits to the fee which may be charged. Instead, the EIRs state the fees shall not exceed “a reasonable amount” and must not exceed the actual costs of producing the information requested.

This schedule of fees applies to River Clyde Homes and Home Fix Scotland when a request for information falls under scope of the EIRs:

When will River Clyde Homes or Home Fix Scotland charge for environmental information?

We will charge requestors for the following in relation to a request which falls under the scope of the EIRs:

• Staff time locating, retrieving and assembling the information requested. This will be charged at the actual cost of the lowest grade of member of staff carrying out the task
• Photocopying - will be charged per sheet (see table below)
• The cost of posting the information to the requestor.

• Requestors will always be notified of any charge before information is provided. Payment must be received in advance of the information being provided. Where information requests cost £100-£600 to provide, the fees will be restricted to only the cost of retrieving, copying and posting to the requestor the information requested.

When will River Clyde Homes or Home Fix Scotland not charge for environmental information?

We will not charge a fee for the provision of information under the EIRs where it costs £100 or less to provide it.

Standard charges:

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 any other costs on to a requestor in relation to our published information.

When may River Clyde Homes or its subsidiary refuse to provide the information requested on the basis of cost?

In cases where we estimate a request will cost in excess of £600 to answer we may refuse to provide information. The EIRs do not have a set maximum cost of compliance, so we will consider each request on a case by case basis.

Will any information be withheld?

There are exceptions within the regulations which may allow us to refuse to comply with your request for example, the information is not held.

Where an exception applies to the facts of your request, when we respond, we will set out the reasons for withholding the information, together with details of the mechanism for review and appeal.

How do I find out more about requesting environmental information? 

The Scottish Information Commissioner’s office provides useful guidance on the meaning of environmental information and the rules that apply.

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