Riverside Inverclyde – Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2000

PUBLICATION SCHEME  : PENDING STATEMENT

This scheme is required by section 23 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Under this Act Riverside Inverclyde as a public body is required to specify: the classes of information it publishes or intends to publish: how information is published; and whether the information is available free of charge or on payment of a fee.

This scheme has been designed to be as inclusive as possible and it is intended to be flexible to allow for future expansion and/or revision of the scheme. The Chief Executive of Riverside Inverclyde who has overall responsibility for this publication scheme can be contacted at :                                      Riverside Inverclyde, The East Wing, Custom House, Custom House Quay, Greenock PA15 1EQ .

GUIDE TO INFORMATION                                                                   

1. About Riverside Inverclyde                                                                                                                      What we are and what we do : www.riversideinverclyde.com

Roles & responsibilities and contact details : http://www.riversideinverclyde.com/contact/

The classes of information which Riverside Inverclyde publishes or intends to publish externally are as follows : newsletters; annual reports; news releases;  information leaflets including factsheets and event flyers; corporate publications; Business Plan; Annual Report and accounts; and marketing materials.

Our Board minutes, legal and governance frameworks, composition of the Board and sub-committees, and corporate policies can be made available on request.

Riverside Inverclyde is committed to upholding every person's right to seek information to help understand its work and is committed to ensuring that access is available to all equalities and disadvantaged groups. Our publications can be made available in large print, Braille and community languages on request.

For those without access to our website or those wishing to make a request for information in paper form, Riverside Inverclyde can be contacted at the address previously stated.

Charges                                                                                                                                            Information on our website will be available free of charge (that is, there is no charge by us, although the user would of course have to meet any charges made by their internet provider and personal printing costs).

For those without access to the website a single printout from the website or a hardcopy of a document can be requested and will be provided free of charge.

Requests for multiple printouts of material on the website or for multiple hard copies may attract a charge for the cost of printing, photocopying, postage etc.. Photocopying will not exceed £1 per 10 pages.

Although we will normally provide a single copy free of charge we may also charge where a substantial number of multiple documents are required to respond to a request. Printing and photocopying will also not exceed £1 per 10 pages.

If charges are to be made you will be told at the time of your request and these would be payable in advance.

Copyright                                                                                                                                               The material listed in this publication scheme is covered by copyright unless stated otherwise. The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use documents, for example by making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public. Such re-use is subject to permission given, usually in the form of a copyright licence, by copyright holder.

Exemptions
Information may be withheld from any of the classes of information listed below where: we consider that disclosure may seriously prejudice law enforcement, legal proceedings; or where the disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law. We may also withhold information if its disclosure would breach the law of confidentiality or seriously prejudice the commercial interest of any persons or organisations. We may also withhold information which is personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998.

In these cases, we will withhold the information and indicate why the information is being withheld. If you wish to complain about information which is being withheld from you, please see below.

Feedback and complaints
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 requires public authorities not only to maintain a publication scheme approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner but also from time to time to review the scheme. As part of this process we would be glad to receive any comments or suggestions on the publication scheme and in particular comments from users on their experiences in obtaining information from the Scheme. Comments or suggestions for particular classes of information to which we might in future commit to publishing under the scheme would also be welcomed.

Comments or complaints should be addressed to The Chief Executive Officer who has the overall responsibility for Riverside Inverclyde's publication scheme.

If we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Scottish Information Commissioner. On 1 January 2005, the general right of access came into force along with a formal appeal mechanism for when information is withheld. Further details about this are available on the Commissioner's website at www.itspublicknowledge.info/. The Commissioner's contact details are as follows:                                                                                                                                                     The Scottish Information Commissioner,                                                                                           Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife  KY16 9DS.
Tel: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464511
Email: enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info

3. How the authority takes decisions and what it has decided                                                             Riverside Inverclyde, being a publicly funded body, is allocated funding by Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Inverclyde Council. Each of those funding partners must authorise the top level budget dispersal of its funds as part of ri’s Business Plan.

Decisions on strategies, projects and commitment of funds are made by the Board, membership of which includes representatives from each of those funding partners. Key to such decisions is the submission, as appropriate, of an options approval analysis within papers submitted to the Board.

Delegated authority at a more detailed and specific level, authorising spend, passes to the Chief Executive and, in turn, to the Head of Operations for up to £30,000, upon the submission to them of an Approval Paper for scrutiny and sign-off.

Unless in exceptional circumstances, public consultations are held for matters relating to the public realm. Such public consultations will be announced in the local press and on Riverside Inverclyde’s website.

Audits are carried out under the direction of each of the three key funding partners.

Information requests for the above should be made in writing to the Chief Executive at the previously stated  address.

4. What the authority spends and how it spends it                                                                              Riverside Inverclyde’s Annual Report, once fully signed-off, will be published on http://www.riversideinverclyde.com/media/  . This report contains details of ri’s annual accounts and financial statement.

Riverside Inverclyde’s Business Plan, once fully signed-off  will also be published on http://www.riversideinverclyde.com/media/  . This report contains details of ri’s approved budget allocation.

5. How the authority manages its human, physical and information resources                               Riverside Inverclyde has a small base staff , and does not have HR or IT functions.            

As the organisation has been set up for a limited 10 year lifespan, records retention will cover the period of ri’s operations.

Information on land and property assets is available on request. 

6. How the authority procures goods and services from external providers                                             A copy of Riverside Inverclyde’s Procurement Processes document is available on request.

It must be noted that ri is governed by procurement legislation that includes EU Procurement Directives that cover high value commissions for goods, services and works (construction) contracts which make local companies being awarded contracts incredibly challenging.  As a public sector organisation Riverside Inverclyde has a legal obligation to comply with these rules.

The rules currently cover most commissions over the following values:

·         Goods and Services £144,371; and

·         Works (construction) £3,611,319

Where these rules apply, tender opportunities must be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), as well as on the Riverside Inverclyde website. We may also advertise these opportunities in national newspapers and trade journals.

In addition to OJEU, ri is required to advertise and tender for all goods or services having an estimated total contract value (excluding recoverable VAT) in excess of £25,000. This involves the placing of adverts on the Scottish Procurement Portal. The impact of advertising through OJEU and the Scottish Procurement Portal is that tenders are then assessed on a price/quality basis. For goods or services £10,000 - £25,000 ri seeks three quotations.

7. How the authority is performing                                                                                                            The Annual Report is made available on our website and is available in hard copy from our offices.

8. Our commercial publications                                                                                                            n/a