The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act) 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

South of Scotland Enterprise (SoSE) has adopted the Model Publication Scheme 2015 produced by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

You can see this scheme on the Commissioner website at www.itspublicknowledge.info/PublicationSchemeGuidance or by contacting us at the address below.

The purpose of this Guide to Information is to:

• allow you to see what information is available (and what is not available) in relation to each class
• state what charges may be applied
• explain how you can 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

Availability and formats

The information we publish through the model scheme is, wherever possible, available on our website. We will 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 arrange to send information to you in paper copy (although there may be a charge for this).

Exempt information

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), we will remove or redact the information before publication and explain why.

Copyright

Where SoSE 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 SoSE does not hold the copyright in information we publish, we will make this clear.

Charges

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.

Our photocopying charge per sheet of paper is shown in the table below:

Paper Size/ Colour	Charge per sheet
A4 Black and White	10p
A4 Colour	30p

 

Information provided on CD-Rom will be charged at £1.00 per computer disc.

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 any commercial publications we may produce (see Class 8 below). These items would be 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.

Contact us

You can contact us for assistance with any aspect of this publication scheme:

To make a request for information under the Freedom of information (Scotland) Act, please contact:

Name: Director of Finance
Address: South of Scotland Enterprise, Carmont House, The Crichton, Bankend Road, Dumfries, DG1 4TG
Email: FOI@sose.scot

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.

The Classes of Information that we Publish

We publish information that we hold within the following classes. Once information is published under a class we will continue to make it available for the current and previous two financial years.

Where information has been updated or superseded, only the current version will be available. If you would like to see previous versions, you may make a request to us for that information.

As SoSE is a new public body, the information we hold is limited. The list below highlights information we anticipate having available in due course and which we will publish as and when available. We also commit to ensuring that this publication scheme is updated regularly and that information and links are be added.

CLASS 1: About the authority
Class description: Information about the authority, who we are, where to find us, how to contact us, how we are managed and our external relations.
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
General information about the authority
About SoSE	Economic Development Agency
Office locations	Various Across D&G and Borders
Staff search and directory
Business opening hours
Contact customer care and complaints functions
Our Enabling Legislation and Scottish Government Guidance
The South of Scotland Enterprise Act 2019	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2019/9/enacted
Scottish Government strategic guidance letter
Government Economic Strategy	https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-economic-strategy/
Framework Document
How the Authority is Run
Board members’ profiles, register of interests, and travel and subsistence costs
Code of conduct for SoSE Board members
Leadership team	Nick Halfhide Interim CEO
	Karen Jackson Director of Strategy
	Anthony Daye Director of Finance
	John Evans Director of Enabling Services
Corporate Planning
Action plan
Equality and diversity approach
External Relations
News and Media
News releases
Events directory

 

CLASS 2: How we delivers our functions and services
Class description: Information about our work, our strategy and policies for delivering functions and services and information for our service users.
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
Functions and services
SoSE sector information and strategy
Support for businesses
Support for communities
Complaints handling policy
Freedom of information procedures
Our publishing scheme
Funding terms and conditions

 

CLASS 3: How we take desicisions and what we decided
Class description: Information about the decisions we take, how we make decisions and how we involve others
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
SoSE Board- minutes

 

CLASS 4: What we spend and how we spend it
Class description: Information about our strategy for, and management of, financial resources (in sufficient detail to explain how we plan to spend public money and what has actually been spent).
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
Audited annual accounts
Public Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 financial statement
SoSE Board members- Remuneration
SoSE Leadership Team- Remuneration

 

CLASS 5: How we manage our human, physical and information resources
Class description: Information about how we manage the human, physical and information resources of the authority
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
Human resources
Staff policies
Staff search and directory
Physical resources
Commercial property for sale or lease
Sustainable construction policy
Information resources
Records management policy
Records retention policy
Freedom of information policy
Privacy and data protection policy

 

CLASS 6: How we procure goods and services from external providers
Class description: Information about how we procure goods and services, and our contracts with external providers
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
Procurement policies and procedures
Procurement contracts terms and conditions
Sustainable procurement policy
Framework agreements and suppliers
Procurement- details of tenders over £50k and all contracts awarded
Current invitations to tender

 

CLASS 7: How we are performing
Class description: Information about how the authority performs as an organisation, and how well it delivers its functions and services
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
Audited annual accounts and reports
Freedom of information performance
Equal opportunities annual report
Complaints performance
Customer service performance

 

CLASS 8: Our commercial publications
Class description: Information packaged and made available for sale on a commercial basis and sold at market value through a retail outlet e.g. bookshop, museum or research journal
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)
We do not currently hold or publish information under this class.	n/a

 

CLASS 9: Our open data
Class description: Open data made available by the authority as described by the Scottish Government’s Open Data Resource Pack and available under an open licence.
The information we publish under this class	How to access it (weblinks)