Guide to Information

Last reviewed: October 2019

Quick Links

Class 1 - About the 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 resources

Class 6 - How we procure goods and services from external providers

Class 7 – How we are performing

Class 8 – Our commercial publications

Class 9 – Our open data

At a glance – terms used in this document

What is FOI?

01- FOI - What is FOI? (video opens in new window on Biteable)

Term Used	Explanation
FOISA	Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 Places a duty on those organisations covered to proactively publish certain types of information; and to respond to requests for information; and to provide advice and assistance to those making requests for information.
EIRs	Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004 Those organisations covered by EIRs have a duty to respond to requests for environmental information
SIC	The Scottish Information Commissioner Who is responsible for ensuring that those bodies covered by FOISA and EIRs comply with the terms of the legislation.
MPS	Model Publication Scheme Produced by the SIC – this details all of the information that those subject to FOISA should publish (if they hold it)
Guide to Information	A guide that all organisations subject to FOISA and adopting the MPS must produce to help people access the information it makes available
Classes of Information	Nine broad categories describing the types of information authorities should publish (if they hold it).

Background

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 must detail all of the key information that we publish and how you can access it. This Guide to Information is our publication scheme, and contains links to where you can find all of the information listed online.

Thenue Housing Association has adopted the Scottish Information Commissioner’s (SIC) Model Publication Scheme(MPS), and this Guide has been approved by the SIC.

Formats other than online

All of the information listed is available on our website (unless stated), and completely free to access online. However, we understand that not everyone will have online access and where this is the case you can contact us to view this in our office (where this would be convenient).

If you would like a printed copy of any of the information listed, unfortunately we may have to charge a small fee to provide this. This fee will never exceed the cost of photocopying and postage – and we will let you know any total cost before we forward this to you.

Our charges for providing any information detailed in this guide are summarised below:

Format	Charge
Online	Free
View at our office	Free
Print in A4 black and white	15p per sheet
Print in A3 black and white	25p per sheet
Print in A4 colour	25p per sheet
Print in A3 colour	40p per sheet
CD Rom	£1 (includes disk)
Memory Stick	£8 (includes stick)

Postage Costs

Postage costs may be recharged at the rate we paid to send the information to you. Our charge is for sending information by Royal Mail First Class.

When providing copies of pre-printed publications we will charge no more than the cost per copy of the total print run. We do not pass on any other costs to you in relation to our published information.

If you would like to request information that we publish in a format other than online, or arrange a visit to our office to view information, please contact:

The People and Culture Manager
0141 550 3581

Charges for information which is not available under the scheme

If you submit a request to us for information which is not available in this Guide, 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 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 £20 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. Charge 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 is provided under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) rather than FOISA.

The rules for charging for environmental information are slightly different.

We do not charge for the time to determine whether we hold the environmental information requested or deciding whether the information can be released. Charges may be made for locating, retrieving and providing information to you e.g. photocopying and postage.

If 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 actual cost to us of providing the information.

Photocopying is charged at 10p per A4 sheet for black and white copying, 20p per A4 sheet for colour copying
Postage is charged at actual rate for Royal Mail First Class
Staff time is calculated at actual cost per staff member hourly salary rate to a maximum of £20 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, 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.

Charges for requesting your own personal data

There is no charge for requesting your own personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Subject Access Request. We must provide a copy of the information free of charge. However, we can charge a ‘reasonable fee’ when a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly if it is repetitive. We may also charge a reasonable fee to comply with requests for further copies of the same information.

Further information on GDPR can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website. Click here to access

Information that we cannot publish

Whilst we will try to make all of the information we have detailed available, in rare cases there may be some information that we cannot make available. For example, sometimes if we were to publish certain Board minutes, it could reveal personal details about an individual. This would be a breach of Data Protection legislation if we were to do so. When this is the case, we will remove any personal details before publication and highlight where and why we have done so.

For how long will information be published?

We aim, where possible, to publish information for at least the current and previous two financial years. When we review any document – e.g. our policies – to avoid confusion we will only publish the current version once it has been updated.

Copyright and re-use

Where we hold the copyright on our published information, the information may be copied or reproduced without formal permission, provided that:

It is copied accurately
It is not used in a misleading context
The source of the material is identified

Contact Us

If you have any queries about anything contained within this Guide to Information, or if there is some information that you cannot find that you would like to access, please contact:

Thenue Housing Association
423 London Road
Glasgow
G40 1AG

0141 550 3581

The Information that we make available to you

Under the MPS, the information we provide must be listed under certain “classes” of information. These are the categories of information that are detailed below. As FOI applies to other bodies and sectors across Scotland – such as Scottish Government and Councils for example –this means that not all of the categories in the MPS apply to housing associations/co-operatives.[1]

The details of all the information we hold under each of the classes that apply to our organisation, and hyperlinks to access this information when available online, are outlined below.

Information	Where to access
Class 1 - About Thenue Housing Association Information about Thenue Housing Association, who we are, where to find us, how to contact us, how we are managed and our external relations.
Descriptions of who we are
Mission Statement	About Us
Vision	About Us
Values	About Us
Strategic Objectives	About Us
Area(s) of operation	Property Map
Key Activities, Strategic/Corporate plan(s)	Available on request
Business Plan (or summary)	Available on request
Our Service Standards	About Us
Location and opening arrangements
Address	Contact Us
Telephone number and e-mail address for general enquiries (and dedicated lines where appropriate)	Contact Us
Opening Times	Contact Us
General Contact Arrangements	Contact Us
Local/Area Office Contact Details	Contact Us
Contact Details for Making a Complaint	Service Standards
Information relating to Freedom of Information
Publication Scheme and Guide to Information	This page
Charging Schedule for Published Information	This page
Contact Details and Advice on Making an FOI Request	FOI Request Form
Freedom of Information Policies and Procedures	Corporate Policy Handbook
Charging Schedule for Environmental Information Provided in Response to Requests Made Under EIRs	This page
About our Governing Body
List of Governing Body Members · Names · When They Became a Governing Body Member · Professional Biographical Details · Office-Bearing Responsibilities · When They Became an Office-Bearer	Governing Body Members
Description of the Role of the Governing Body · Governance Structure Chart (Including Sub-Committees and Working Groups); · Remits for Governing Body and any Sub-Committees	Governance Structure Chart Governing Body Role Description
How to Become Part of the Governing Body	Membership
About our staff
List of Senior Management Team, Including Professional Biography and Contact Details	Our Staff
Organisational Structure	Our Staff
Governance Documents and Corporate Policies
Rules/Articles	Thenue Housing Assocation Rules
Standing Orders	Governance Policy Handbook
Membership Policy	Governance Policy Handbook
Code of Conduct for Staff	Staff Policy Handbook
Code of Conduct for Governing Body Members	Governance Policy Handbook
Entitlements Payments and Benefits Policy	Governance Policy Handbook
Register of Interests	Governing Body Members
Equalities Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Health and Safety Policy	Policy Statement
Sustainability Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Relationship with Regulators
Engagement Plan with Scottish Housing Regulator	Engagement Plan
Assurance Statement	Assurance Statement
Annual Return on Charter Submission to SHR	Charter Return
Financial Returns to SHR	Financial Returns
Charter Report to Tenants	Charter Report
Internal and External Audit arrangements	Audit Arrangements
Group Details
Details of our Subsidiaries	Our Subsidiaries
Key Partnerships
Strategic Agreements With Other Organisations	Thenue Communities
Class 2 – How we deliver our functions and services Information about our work, our strategy and policies for delivering services and information for our service users.
How to use our services
List of Services Provided	Services Provided
How to Report a Repair	Report a Repair
Right to Repair Information	Report a Repair
How to Apply for a House	How to Apply
How to get Information About Tenancy Support	Tenancy Support Service
How to Make a Complaint	Making a Complaint
How to Speak to a Housing Officer	Our Staff
How we Consult With Tenants and Other Customers to Inform and Improve Service Delivery and Develop New Services	Customer Engagement Strategy
Policies and Procedures
Allocations Policy	Allocation and Void Policy Handbook
Adaptations Policy	Property Services Policy Handbook
Anti-Social Behaviour Policy	Estate Management Policy Handbook
Asbestos Management Policy	Property Services Policy Handbook
Arrears Management Policy	Income Maximisation Policy Handbook
Asset Management Policy (Including Stock Condition Information)	Property Services Handbook
Customer Care Policy	Customer Service Policy Handbook
Data Protection Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Environmental Information Regulations Policy (EIR)	Corporate Policy Handbook
Equality and Diversity Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Estate Management Policy	Estate Management Policy
Health and Safety Policy and procedures	Health and Safety Policy
Legionnaires Inspection/Prevention Policy	Property Services Policy Handbook
Procurement Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Risk Management Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Rent Setting Policy	Rent, Occupancy and Service Charges Handbook
Repairs Policy	Repairs Policy Handbook
Sustainability Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Tenant Engagement Policy	Customer Engagement Strategy
Class 3 – How we take decisions and what we have decided Information about the decisions we take how we make decisions and how we involve others.
Governing Body Meetings
Governing Body Meeting Minutes	Board of Management Meeting Minutes
Governing Body Meeting Reports/Papers	Available on request
Governing Body Agendas	Board of Management Agendas
Consultation and Participation
Tenant Participation Strategy	Customer Engagement Strategy
Consultation Reports Noting the Outcome of any Recent Consultations With Tenants/Others	Scrutiny Report - Review of Scrutiny Group Scrutiny Report - Service Standards
Tenant Scrutiny Panel Composition	Scrutiny Panel
Registered Tenant Organisations	Registered Tenant Organisation
Class 4 – What we spend and how we spend it Information about our strategy for, and management of, financial resources (in sufficient detail to explain how we plan to spend public money and what has actually been spent).
Information about our accounts and budgets
Description of Funding Sources	Funding Sources
Audited Accounts	Audited Accounts
Budget Policies and Procedures	Budget Policy
Budget Allocation to Key Service Areas	Budget Allocation
Our Programme of Work and Projects
Brief Details of Any Project Funding and How It’s Being Spent	Project Funding
Capital Works Programme/Plans Information (Annual Programme Figure)	Major Repairs
Spending relating to Staff and Governing Body
Expenses Policies and Procedures	Available on Request
Senior Staff/Governing Body Member Expenses at Category Level e.g. travel, Subsistence and Accommodation	Expenses
Board Member Remuneration Other Than Expenses	We currently do not remunerate our board members
Pay and Grading Structure	Available on Request
General Information About Staff Pension Scheme	Staff Pension Scheme
Class 5 – How we manage our resources Information About How we Manage our Human, Physical and Information Resources
Human resources
Strategy and Management of Human Resources	Staff Policy Handbook
Staffing Structure	Our Staff
Human Resources Policies, Covering: · Recruitment · Performance Management · Salary and Grading · Promotion · Pensions · Discipline · Grievance · Staff Development · Maintenance and Retention of Staff Records	Available on Request
Trade Union information	Trade Union Information
Summary of Professional Organisations/Trade Bodies of Which we are a Member	Professional Organisation Membership
Physical Resources
Management of our Land and Property Assets, Including Environmental/Sustainability Reports	Property Services Handbook
General Description of our Land and Property Holdings	Our Housing
Estate Development Plans	Landressy Place
Information Resources
Records Management Policy and Records Management Plan, Including Records Retention Schedule	Corporate Policy Handbook
Data Protection Policy	Corporate Policy Handbook
Class 6 - How we Procure Goods and Services From External Providers Information About how we Procure Works Goods and Services, and our Contracts With External Providers.
Our Contractors and suppliers
Information About our key Service Delivery Contractors who Carry out: · Responsive Repairs · Landscape Maintenance · Planned/Cyclical Maintenance	Planned Maintenance
List of Suppliers and Contractors Used by Organisation (Provided to Staff Under our Entitlements Payments and Benefits Policy)	Suppliers and Contractors
Information About Regulated Procurement Contracts Awarded (Value, Scope, Duration)	Available on Request
Our Procurement
Procurement Policy and Procedures	Corporate Policy Handbook
Information on how to Tender for Work and Invitations to Tender	Corporate Policy Handbook
Register of Contracts Awarded Which Have Gone Through Formal Tendering, Including Name of Supplier, Period of Contract and Value	Available on Request
Links to Procurement Information we Publish on Public Contracts Scotland Website	Tenders are published on our behalf by consultants
Framework Agreements	Contractors Framework
Class 7 – How we are performing Information About how we Perform as an Organisation, and how well we Deliver our Functions and Services
Annual Report	Annual Reviews
ARC Report to Tenants	Charter Report
Performance Standards/Indicators	Charter Report
Benchmarking Information	Landlord Report
Complaints Policy, Guidance and Forms	Making a Complaint
Complaints Reports or Equivalent to Show how Complaints are Handled and Influence Service Delivery	Complaints Report
Tenant Scrutiny Reports	Scrutiny Report - Rent Consultation Scrutiny Report - Service Standards
Class 8 – Our Commercial Publications Information Packaged and Made Available for Sale on a Commercial Basis and Sold at Market Value Through a Retail Outlet e.g. Bookshop, Museum or Research Journal
This Class Does not Apply to Thenue Housing Association as we do not Produce any Publications for Sale.	Not applicable
Class 9 – Our open data Open data made available by us under the Scottish Government’s Open Data Resource Pack and available under open licence.
This class does not apply to Thenue Housing Association	Not applicable

[1]In the MPS Class 8: Commercial Publications and Class 9: Our Open Data do not apply to RSLs.

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