In January 2005, the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act (2002) (FOISA) came into force. This allows any
individual, anywhere to ask Scottish public authorities for
information which they hold. There are over 10,000 public authorities
who are duty-bound by this act and they include the National
Archives of Scotland (NAS).
There are two types of information which the NAS holds.
- Information contained in the archives
-
Information about the daily administration of the NAS
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Information contained in the archives
Information in collections of archives is already made available
to the public and is therefore is exempt under section 25 of FOISA.
To consult the lists of archives available for consultation in the
NAS or online go to the catalogues
and indexes section. If you want to make an enquiry about information
in the archives you should do so through the contact
us section.
In some instances information may be subject to restrictions and this
will be shown on the catalogue entry. If this is the case then you
will need to make a freedom of information request for the information
to:
The Freedom of Information Officer
The National Archives of Scotland
HM General Register House
2 Princes Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3YY
E-mail: foi@nas.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)131 535 1371
We shall respond to your request within 20 working days from receipt
of your request and if we have to consult with the public authority
which created the record we shall respond within 30 working days.
Information about the daily administration of the NAS
Information in this category includes minutes of meetings, accounts
or policy decisions created during the daily business of the NAS.
In the first instance you should consult our publication
scheme. The publication scheme lists information which is already
available to the public either through this website, as a publication
or on request from the NAS. The majority of information is free but
should a charge be involved this is clearly marked. If the information
you seek is not in the publication scheme then you will need to submit
a freedom of information request. You can do this using the contact
details given above. We shall respond to your request within 20 working
days from receipt of your request.
Information held by the NAS about you
If you want access to personal information held by the NAS then you
will need to make a request under the Data Protection Act (1998) not
FOISA. Please refer to the pages on making a data
protection request.
Environmental information held by the NAS
The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations (EIRs) allow
individuals to request information on the environment from public
bodies such as the NAS. If your request concerns environmental information
read the EIR
request page.
A basic guide to freedom of information in Scotland
The NAS has produced a Basic guide to freedom of information in Scotland which provides an introduction to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 including information about: the main provisions of the act
- the nature and duration of exemptions
- existing legislation with which FOI interacts
- the role of records management in FOI
- the role of the NAS under the Act
Records management workbook
The National Archives of Scotland has made available for comment a records management workbook to permit organisations or auditors to check their records management procedures against the section 61 Code of Practice issued under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
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