Freedom of Information (FOI)

Freedom of Information Requests is not about your personal data or information but about the work that we do as an organisation. We do not need to create new information to respond to your request, but we are able to provide you information that we already hold.

Requests need to pass the public interest test, which means the request is for information should be for ‘public good’ and not what may be of interest to you or may benefit you personally. Freedom of Information requests may have certain exemptions applied to them, for instance personal information and opinions will be redacted to protect other people. Information is also available on our website via the publication scheme and we may decline to fulfil any FOI request if it is already published.

.If you wish to make an FOI request, please email us at Foi@blochairn.org

FOI Fee and charges

We may request a reasonable fee for any Freedom of Information requests we receive.

We publish a lot of information which can be downloaded directly from our website for free. For all other requests charge based on the following calculation: employee costs + material costs = total costs.

Material costs charged at the following:

Papercopy - black and white - 10p per sheet Papercopy
Colour - 20p per sheet
USB device - £4.99 per memory stick required
Postage - recharged at cost to the Association

When we receive a request, we will estimate the total cost of dealing with the request and issue a fee notice to the requester based on the following:

Less than £100 No fees will be charged

From £100 to £600 10% of total costs will be charged

For any costs above £600 10% of total costs up to £600 will be charged plus any additional costs to be charged in full

Environmental Information Request (EIR)

Similar to a Freedom of Information Request, it relates to the work that the organisation does not to personal data relating to you. We do not need to create new information to respond to your request, but we are able to provide you information that we already hold.

Requests need to pass the public interest test, which means the request is for information should be for ‘public good’ and not what may be of interest to you or may benefit you personally. EIR requests are chargeable and theses charges are outlined in our EIR policy . We will inform you of the cost of your request when it is received.

Please also note that an FOI request may be in fact an EIR request and may be chargeable. More information on this can be found in our EIR policy .

If you wish to make an EIR request, please email us at admin@blochairn.org

EIR Fee and Charges

We may request a reasonable fee for any Enviromental Information requests we receive.

We publish a lot of information which can by Freedom ofe downloaded directly from our website for free. For all other requests charge based on the following calculation: employee costs + material costs = total costs.

Material costs charged at the following:

Papercopy - black and white - 10p per sheet Papercopy
Colour - 20p per sheet
USB device - £4.99 per memory stick required
Postage - recharged at cost to the Association

When we receive a request, we will estimate the total cost of dealing with the request and issue a fee notice to the requester based on the following:

Less than £100 No fees will be charged

From £100 to £600 10% of total costs will be charged

For any costs above £600 10% of total costs up to £600 will be charged plus any additional costs to be charged in full

Subject Access Request (SAR)

This request allows you to find out what information we hold about you. It cannot give you information about someone else unless you have a mandate from that other person. To make a SAR, we recommend you email us at admin@blochairn.org. However, you can make a request directly to any employee.

We will respond to your request within 1 month. Where the request is complex, we may have to extend the timeframe for another two months (where this occurs, we will notify you of this). We will not begin the SAR process until we have received suitable evidence that you are who you say you are (e.g. ID to confirm identity). Therefore, we advise that you supply this with your request.

Where requests are made for malicious intent (to harass the organisation or employee) or to cause purposeful disruption, we may decline the request. Where this occurs, we will confirm this to the requester in writing.

If your find we hold any wrong information about you, you have the right to request that the data is rectified. You should let us know, (1) clearly what you believe is inaccurate or incomplete, (2) how we should correct it, and (3) where available, provide evidence of the inaccuracies.

You also have the right to get your data deleted, where the information is no longer required for the original purpose, it was collected for or where you have withdrawn consent. However, the right to rectification, deletion or restriction is not absolute and will be carefully assessed for legitimacy

SAR Fees and Charges

In most cases there will be no fee charged for responding to a request, however where we can demonstrate that the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive in nature, we can either (1) charge a reasonable fee, reflective of the administrative costs of dealing with the request; or (2) refuse to act on the request.

You will be informed of such decision, the reason why and how a complaint can be raised with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if they wish to appeal.

If the request relates to access to personal data, where we have provided one copy of the personal data free of charge, for further copies of the same data, we shall charge a reasonable fee to the data subject based on administrative costs.

Freedom of Information

Do you want to find out how to access information about you, the way we work, the services we provide and the decisions we make?

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) requires that all housing associations/co-operatives in Scotland must produce and maintain a Publication Scheme.

This gives information about the way we work, our services and decisions. It details all of the key information that we publish and how you can access it.

The Document Library is where you can find out more on our guide to information and contains a link where you can find all the information below.

It is split into easy to understand classes of information, so that you can quickly find what you are looking for. Blochairn Housing Association Group has adopted the Scottish Information Commissioner’s (SIC) Model Publication Scheme (MPS)

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (“FOISA”) and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (“EISR”) place a general obligation on Scottish Public Authorities to allow the public access to information that they hold. Both FOISA and EISR are overseen by the Scottish Information Commissioner (“SIC”).

From 11 November 2019 Blochairn Housing Association was designated as Scottish Public Authority and will need to make information available in accordance with FOISA and EISR. We have developed a Freedom of Information Policy and an Environmental Information Policy.

Blochairn Housing Association Group’s Guide to Information

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

Requesting Information from us

If what you are looking for is not here, you can make a request by following this link https://blochairn.org/request-information-foi-sar-eir/

The information that we make available to you is classified under one of nine classes as dictated by the SICO and can be found under one of the following headings:

Class 1: About Our Organisation, Blochairn Housing Association

Class 2: How We Deliver Our Functions and Services

Class 3: How We take Decisions And What We Have Decided

Class 4: What We Spend and How We Spend It

Class 5: How We Manage our Human, Physical and Information Resources

Class 6: How We Procure Goods and Services From External Providers

Class 7: How are We Performing

Class 8: Our Commercial Publications (Not Applicable to Blochairn Housing Association )

Class 9: Our Open Data (Not Applicable to Blochairn Housing Association )