The Scottish Government

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION PUBLICATION SCHEME FOR HM CHIEF INSPECTOR OF PRISONS FOR SCOTLAND REVISED FEBRUARY 2008

1. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons of the Scottish Administration - Introduction to the Publication Scheme.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) provides individuals with a right of access to all recorded information held by Scotland's public authorities. Anyone can use this right, and information can only be withheld where FOISA expressly permits it.

Section 23 of FOISA also requires that all Scottish public authorities maintain a publication scheme. A publication scheme sets out the types of information that a public authority routinely makes available. This scheme has been approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner, who is responsible for enforcing FOISA. We are also obliged to review this scheme from time to time.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide you with details of the range of information that we routinely publish. The scheme also provides details of how you can access this information, and tells you whether it is available free, or if there is a change for the information.

This is Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland's (HMCIP) revised publication scheme as required by Section 23 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). Under the Act HMCIP 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 publication scheme has regard to the public interest in the disclosure of information which will help to provide an informal background to the work of HMCIP.

The publication scheme will be available on our website and in hard copy.

Alongside FOISA, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the EI(S)Rs) provide a separate right of access to any environmental information that we hold. The EI(S)Rs place a duty on all public authorities to actively disseminate environmental information.

Where information is not published under this scheme, you can request it from us under FOISA or, in the case of environmental information, the EI(S)Rs. For further information on accessing information not covered by this scheme, refer to - How to access information not available under the scheme.

2. About HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons is appointed by a Royal Warrant, and is recruited in accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code on fair and open competition ( www.civilservicecommissioners.gov.uk). He is located with the Scottish Government Criminal Justice Directorate but conducts all inspections independently. Under the terms of Section 7 of the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989 (as amended) it is the duty of HMCIP to inspect or arrange for the inspection of prisons, legalised police cells and prisoner escort arrangements in Scotland. Following each inspection the Chief Inspector will report to Scottish Ministers on the treatment of prisoners and conditions in prisons. The Chief Inspector shall submit an Annual Report to Scottish Ministers. The Annual Report also outlines budget and expenditure for the year. The Chief Inspector may also report on any matter connected with Scottish prisons as directed by Scottish Ministers.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons comprises five members of staff:

3. How to Access Information from this Publication Scheme

All information included in this publication scheme and the publication scheme itself will be available on HMCIP website ( www.scotland.gov.uk/hmip). For further information on what the scheme holds, please see section 11 - Classes of Information. For those without access to the website or those who would like a hard copy or a copy on CD, contact details are:

Enquiry Line: 0131 244 8481
Email: andrew.mclellan@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Fax: 0131 244 8446
In writing: M1.4
Saughton House
Broomhouse Drive
Edinburgh EH11 3XD

If the information you require is not included in the publication scheme you can submit a request for it in writing, by email, by fax or in any other permanent format. In responding to your requests we will do so in accordance with The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002).

4. Charging for Information

Information will be free of charge if downloaded from the website (i.e. there is no charge by HMCIP, although the user would of course have to meet any charges by their Internet Services Provider, personal printing costs etc). For those without access to the website a print out as on the website, or a hard copy of the document, would be available by post, on request, from the contact addresses provided in section 3 above. These will be provided free of charge.

Requests for multiple print-outs of material on the web - site or for multiple hard copies may attract a charge for the cost of printing, photocopying, postage etc. Printing and photocopy costs will not exceed 10p per sheet. Computer disks will be charged at £1 per CD Rom. If charges are to be made you will be told of the charges and how they have been calculated at the time of your request and these would be payable in advance.

5. Exemptions

Our aim is to be as open as possible. However, information may be withheld from any of the classes of information listed below where FOISA (or in the case of environmental information, the EI(S)Rs) permit this, for example where disclosure may seriously prejudice law enforcement, legal proceedings or our regulatory or enforcement activity or where the disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law. FOISA also permits information to be withheld if its disclosure would breach the law of confidentiality or seriously prejudice the commercial interests of any person or organisation. We may also withhold information which is personal information, the release of which would breach the terms of 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, please read the "Maintenance of HMCIP's Publication Scheme" section below.

6. Copyright Statement

HMCIP is a Crown body and the information we produce is subject to Crown copyright, which is administered by the Queen's Printer for Scotland. The material listed in this publication scheme is Crown copyright unless stated otherwise. The copyright in some of the material which may be found in this publication scheme has been waived. This means that you can re-use this material freely. Categories of material for which copyright has been waived include: press notices, legislation, and explanatory notes on the legislation, ministerial speeches, consultation documents, documents featured on official websites (except where expressly indicated otherwise), headline statistics and unpublished public records. More details of these and other categories can be found at: http://www.oqps.gov.uk.

For other types of material, the supply of documents under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) does not give the person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the documents in a way that would infringe copyright, for example, by making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public.

Brief extracts of any of the material included in this publication scheme may be reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research and non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and new reporting.

Details of the arrangements for re-using Crown copyright material can be found on the website of the Office of Public Sector Information at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/index.htm.

Authorisation to re-use copyright material not owned by the Crown should be sought from the copyright holders concerned.

7. Our Records Management and Disposal Policy

While the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 is retrospective, most records as a matter of course have a natural lifespan and will be destroyed in accordance with our records management and disposal policy. It is therefore only possible for us to provide records that are still in existence.

HMCIP follow the Scottish Government's policy and procedures in relation to records management and disposal, which are set out in the records management manual available under the Scottish Government's publication scheme. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/FOI/19260

Records that are retained for permanent preservation are made available for public viewing at the National Archives of Scotland. You can search for such information at http://www.nas.gov.uk/ .

8. Maintenance of the HMCIP's Publication Scheme

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 ongoing 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 which we might add to the scheme would also be welcomed.

Comments or complaints about this scheme should be addressed to the person responsible for maintaining the HMIP Publication Scheme, David McAllister:

Telephone: 0131 244 8484
Email: david.mcallister@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Fax: 0131 244 8446
In writing: M1-4
Saughton House
Broomhouse Drive
Edinburgh
EH11 3XD

9. How to Access Information which is not Available under this Scheme

If the information you are seeking is not available under this publication scheme, then you may wish to request it from us. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) provides you with a right of access to the information we hold, subject to certain exemptions. The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EI(S)Rs) separately provide a right of access to the environmental information we hold, while the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) provides a right of access to any personal information about you that we hold. Again, these rights are subject to certain exceptions or exemptions.

Should you wish to request a copy of any information that we hold that is not available under this scheme, please write to:

David McAllister
M1-4
Saughton House
Broomhouse Drive
Edinburgh
EH11 3XD

Email: david.mcallister@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

10. Charges for information which is not available under the scheme

The charges for information which is available under this scheme are set out under section 4. If you submit a request to us for information which is not available under the scheme the charges will be based on the following calculations:

General information requests:

• There will be no charge for information requests which cost us £100 or less to process.
• Where information costs between £100 and £600 to provide you may be asked to pay 10% of the cost. That is, if you were to ask for information that cost us £600 to provide, you would be asked to pay £50, that calculated on the basis of a waiver for the first £100 and 10% of the remaining £500.
• We are not obliged to respond to requests which will cost us over £600 to process.
• In calculating any fee, staff time will be calculated at actual cost per staff member hourly salary rate to a maximum of £15 per person per hour.
• We do not charge for the time to determine whether we hold the information requested, nor for the time it takes to decide whether the information can be released. Charges may be made for locating, retrieving and providing information to you.
• In the event that we decide to impose a charge we will issue you with notification of the charge (a fees notice) and how it has been calculated. You will have three months from the date of issue of the fees notice in which to decide whether to pay the charge. The information will be provided to you on payment of the charge. If you decide not to proceed with the request there will be no charge to you.

Charges for environmental information:

We do not charge for the time to determine whether we hold the information requested, nor for the time it takes to decide whether the information can be released. Charges may be made for locating, retrieving and providing information to you.

In the event that we decide to impose a charge we will issue you with notification of the charge and how it has been calculated. The information will be provided to you on payment of the charge. If you decide not to proceed with the request there will be no charge to you.

Charges are calculated on the basis of the actual cost to the authority of providing the information.

• Photocopying is charged at 10p per A4 sheet for black and white copying, 30p per A4 sheet for colour copying.
• Postage is charged at actual rate for first class mail.
• Staff time is calculated at actual cost per staff member hourly salary rate to a maximum of £15 per person per hour.

The first £100 worth of information will be provided to you without charge.

Where information costs between £100 and £600 to provide you will be asked to pay 10% of the cost. That is, if you were to ask for information that cost us £600 to provide, you would be asked to pay £50, that calculated on the basis of a waiver for the first £100 and 10% of the remaining £500.

Where it would cost more than £600 to provide the information to you, however, we will ask you to pay the full cost of providing the information, with no waiver for any portion of the cost.

11. Classes of Information

Listed below are the classes and sub classes of information which HMCIP publishes or intends to publish. Copies of all information listed under these classes is available on line, or in hard or electronic copy on request.

Class - Reports on Inspections carried out by the Inspectorate. HMCIP's main statutory responsibility is the regular inspection of individual establishments. In carrying out this function, matters that are inspected and reported on include physical conditions, quality of prisoner regimes, facilities available to staff and prisoners, questions of safety and decency, and the establishment's contribution to preventing re-offending. Inspection reports include the sources of evidence on which decisions have made. Decisions are also made in accordance with "Standards Used in the Inspection of Prisons in Scotland" (2006), which is available separately under this Scheme.

Subclasses

• Full Inspection Reports on Scottish Prisons carried out by the Inspectorate from 1995
• Follow up Inspection reports carried out by the Inspectorate from 2003
• Inspection reports on legalised police cells in Scotland
• Inspection reports on prisoner escort arrangements

Class - Thematic Studies carried out by the Inspectorate since 1994-95. In addition to its primary function of inspecting prisons, the Inspectorate from time to time undertakes studies into issues that are common to all or some prisons. As with inspection reports, these thematic study reports are submitted to Scottish Ministers and published.

Class - Annual Reports of the Inspectorate published from 1994-95. The Inspectorate has a statutory obligation to prepare an Annual Report. These reports, which are laid before the Scottish Parliament, summarise the work of the Inspectorate for the year in question. The Annual Report also outlines HMCIP budget and expenditure for the year.

Class - Information about the Functions and Structure of HMCIP . This class will provide operational information about the office of HMCIP, including the staffing structure, roles and responsibilities. The business and development objectives set for HMCIP are also available.

Subclasses

• Functions and Staffing of Inspectorate
• Frequently Asked Questions on Functions, Staffing and Powers of the Inspectorate
• The Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989, which provides the legislative basis for the Inspectorate
• HR functions - HMCIP is subject to the Scottish Government's HR policies. These can be found under the Scottish Government's Publication Scheme at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/FOI/19260
• The Inspectorate's programme for inspections - these are issued before the start of the year being inspected
• Business and development objectives for HMCIP

Class - Information on Performance. Inspections are carried out in accordance with the Inspectorate's "Standards Used in the Inspection of Prisons in Scotland" (2006). A copy can be found on our website, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/hmip, or through the contact point at section 3. Performance of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons is assessed using the Senior Civil Service performance management system which is available here.

Class - External Communications. HMIP Press Releases are issued via the Scottish Government's Communications Office, and are available through the Scottish Government's Publication Scheme and the Scottish Government's website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/News-Today. Key points made in speeches given by HMCIP are provided in inspection and annual reports, available separately under this scheme.

12. Complaints

Complaints about the information given can be addressed to the contact details in this Scheme.

If we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Scottish Information Commissioner (details below). There is a formal appeal mechanism when information is withheld. Details of this are available on the Commissioner's website.

Kevin Dunion OBE, Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS
Tel: 01334 464610

enquiries@itspublicknowledge.infowww.itspublicknowledge.info