Introduction

Any person who makes a request to SEStran for information is entitled to receive that information, subject to exemptions. In this spirit of openness, section 23 of the Act requires public authorities to adopt and maintain a publication scheme.

The purpose of this scheme is to make information available so that it can be accessed without having to make an individual request.

The SEStran publication scheme is intended to be as inclusive as possible, improving public access to information and increasing public involvement. The information in this scheme will detail:

• 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.

It is intended that where possible the information will be available via the SEStran website, but requests can also be made for printed information to be sent by post, or electronic files to be sent by email.

Contents

• About the South East of Scotland Transport Partnership
• Formulating this Scheme
• Responsibility for this Scheme
• Exemptions
• Copyright Statement
• Access to Information
• Charging Policy
• Contacts, feedback & complaints
• Classes of Information
• Useful Resources

About the South East of Scotland Transport Partnership

SEStran is one of seven new Statutory Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) created by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005.

The Partnerships will work with local councils and the Scottish Executive developing Scotland’s transport infrastructure, promoting economic growth, social inclusion and sustainable development, via a safe, integrated, and efficient network of roads, rail, sea and air.

SEStran will operate at a strategic level and will not have day to day responsibility for transport services or infrastructure. Its core task will be the development of a statutory Regional Transport Strategy, which requires to be completed by March 2007 for approval by Scottish Ministers.

SEStran has been granted capital funding by the Scottish Executive for allocation to a regional programme of transport improvements, and is responsible for monitoring delivery of these projects. SEStran’s current functions do not include directly providing any services for members of the public, or making any charges to members of the public.

SEStran is a partnership of eight local councils: East Lothian Council, Midlothian Council, West Lothian Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Borders Council, Falkirk Council, Fife Council and Clackmannanshire Council. Its governing body comprises 20 Councillor Members appointed by the partner councils and up to 9 Other Members appointed initially by the Minister for Transport. The Partnership meets in public and the dates and venues of meetings are published at the constituent councils’ premises and on this site under Meeting Information.

The day-to-day work of SEStran is taken forward by a Management Team which is led by the Partnership Director, Alex Macaulay.

Formulating this Scheme

The Regional Transport Partnerships are included in the list of public authorities covered by the Act. SEStran is therefore subject to Section 23 of the Act, which requires it to prepare, adopt and maintain a scheme which sets out information that it makes available to the public, and in what format the information can be obtained. This scheme, known as a Publication Scheme, has to be approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

When formulating its scheme SEStran considered the public interest in providing information about:

• How we are organised
• How decisions are made
• Our income and expenditure
• The development of our regional transport strategy
• Our work in developing and implementing projects and initiatives

SEStran is a new statutory body, but two of its constituent councils, Stirling and Perth & Kinross, were formerly members of the South East Scotland Regional Transport Partnership (SEStran) until November 2005. Since at that time SEStran was a voluntary organisation and not a statutory body, it did not have a publication scheme of its own, and information held by its member councils was subject to each member’s own publication scheme.

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Responsibility for this Scheme

The person responsible for the day-to-day management of this Publication Scheme is the Freedom of Information (FoI) Officer. The FoI Officer will regularly review this publication scheme. If you have any feedback or complaints about the scheme please use the following contact details:

FoI Officer
SEStran

Claremont House
130 East Claremont Street
Edinburgh
EH7 4LB

Telephone: 0131 524 5150
Fax: 0311 524 5151
E-mail: enquiries@sestran.gov.uk 

The senior officer responsible for the publication scheme is the Partnership Director, who can also be contacted at the address above.

Legal services are provided to SEStran by Andrew Ferguson of Fife Council, who will provide advice to the Partnership on whether any information may be withheld and any other matter relating to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. Mr Ferguson will also undertake Reviews in the event of any applicant wishing to request a review of a decision to withhold information.

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Exemptions

SEStran aims to be as open as possible. However, information may be withheld from any of the classes of information listed below where we consider that the disclosure may fall within one of the exemptions contained in the Act. For example, we may withhold information if its disclosure would breach the law of confidentiality or seriously prejudice the commercial interests of any person or organisation.

We will also withhold information which is personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998.

In these cases, we will inform you that we have withheld the information and indicate the reasons for the restriction. Even when an exemption exists, it may nevertheless be possible to provide copies with the exempted information edited out.

If you wish to complain about information which is being withheld from you, please read the “complaints” section below.

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Copyright Statement

Formal permission for copying and reproducing this information does not need to be sought from SEStran provided it is copied or reproduced accurately, is not used in a misleading context and provided that the source of the material is identified and the copyright status acknowledged.  

The Publication Scheme contains material where the copyright holder is not SEStran. We have endeavoured to ensure that the copyright holder is obvious from the documents. Where the copyright is unclear, however, it is the responsibility of the person accessing the information to locate and seek the permission of the copyright holder before reproducing the material or in any other way breaching the rights of the copyright holder. Wherever possible, this scheme will indicate where SEStran does not own the copyright on documents.

Much of the legislation within the Publication Scheme comes under the Crown copyright. Information about Crown copyright material is available on the website of the Queen's Printer for Scotland (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/).

If you do not have access to the internet then we will provide you with a copy of this.

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Access to Information

The publication scheme lists information that is or will be routinely published by SEStran. The information can usually be accessed in the following ways:

• Online Publications included in all classes of information listed in this scheme will be available on the website at http://www.sestran.gov.uk. Publicly available computer terminals are provided by all eight constituent councils of SEStran.

• By Email You may request information to be sent to you by email and where information is held electronically but is not on the website, we will send it to you where practicable. Alternatively, we may post you out information on a CD-Rom.

• By Post You can request copies of documents to be sent to you by post. Please address your request to:

FoI Officer
SEStran

Claremont House
130 East Claremont Street
Edinburgh
EH7 4LB

Telephone: 0131 524 5150
Fax: 0131 524 5151
E-mail: enquiries@sestran.gov.uk

When writing to the address above, please include: your name and address, contact telephone number and details of information you would like to receive.

Please note that there may be a charge for this - see the details on charging below.

By Telephone Information can be requested over the telephone. Please provide full contact details, including telephone number, so that we can telephone to clarify any details, if necessary.

Other Formats If you require the information in any other format (large text, Braille, or in another language) or if you have difficulty determining the information you want to see, please contact the FoI Officer detailed above who will be happy to help.

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Charging Policy

Information in this scheme is available free of charge when viewed on the SEStran website or sent via e-mail. For those without access to the website a single printout off the website (or a hard copy of the document) can be requested. These will be provided free of charge except where indicated.

Requests for multiple printouts of material on the website or for multiple hard copies may incur a fee to cover the cost of printing, photocopying, postage.

Where possible, any charges that are likely to be made for information will be detailed at Section 10 under the individual classes of information. Where the publication indicates that a charge may be applied, this will be reasonable and will reflect the cost of printing and/or posting large documents. The charge for photocopying or printing documents (black and white) is 10p per A4 sheet.

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Contacts, Feedback and Complaints

This Publication Scheme is new and we would welcome any comments / suggestions (or complaints) you may have with regard to this Scheme. As part of our statutory duty we are required to review our publication scheme periodically. SEStran welcomes feedback on how we can develop our scheme further. Any questions, comments or complaints about this scheme should be made in writing to:

FoI Officer
SEStran

Claremont House
130 East Claremont Street
Edinburgh
EH7 4LB

Telephone: 0131 524 5150
Fax: 0131 524 5151

E-mail: enquiries@sestran.gov.uk Website: http://www.sestran.gov.uk

If we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Scottish Information Commissioner who oversees the Act and whose contact details are below. Since 1 st January 2005, when the general right of access came into force, there is a formal appeal mechanism when information is withheld. Further details on this are available on the Commissioner’s website at http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/.

The contact details for the Commissioner are: Kevin Dunion, Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610 Fax: 01334 464611
e-mail: enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info

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Classes of Information

Listed below are the classes of information that SEStran publishes or intends to publish. This publication scheme does not contain all the information held by SEStran. If the information you require does not appear under any of the following categories or is not available elsewhere on the website then please use the contact details above to make your request.

It is anticipated that the information available below will expand rapidly once SEStran becomes more established. This will be reflected in the classes of information below.

Policy and Strategy

1. Regional Transport Strategy. Documents relating to the formulation, approval and delivery of the Regional Transport Strategy which is the core function of SEStran

2. Consultation Responses. Documents submitted by SEStran in response to consultations by other bodies and submitted to SEStran in response to its own consultations

3. Completed research reports commissioned by SEStran. Documents commissioned from external consultants or agencies relating to transport issues or policies relevant to SEStran’s functions.

4. Business and operational plans. Documents published by SEStran setting out its strategic and operational priorities and plans.

5. Equalities Scheme.  Equality of access to transport facilities and through that to jobs, health care, education, shopping and social activities.

Constitutional and Corporate Information

6. Constitutional information. Policy and constitutional documents relating to the governance of SEStran and information about membership and meetings.

7. Agendas and Minutes of the Partnership Board and Committees. Papers showing details of the business considered by SEStran members at regular meetings of the main Board and its Committees

8. Promotional and publicity information about the Partnership. Documents which SEStran regularly publishes to keep people informed about its decision making and organisational performance

Financial Information

9. Grants and Funding Information. Documents containing information about how SEStran uses the funding which it receives from the Scottish Executive and other sources in fulfilling its functions

10. Partnership Budget and accounts. Documents showing how SEStran manages and accounts for its income and expenditure.

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HR Policies

To access SEStran's HR Policies click here

Useful Resources.

The Scottish Government - www.scotland.gov.uk

The Queen's Printer for Scotland - www.oqps.gov.uk

Scottish Information Commissioner - http://www.itspublicknowledge.info