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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:

Freedom of Information Officer
University of Aberdeen
King's College
ABERDEEN AB24 3F

Charges for information which is not available under the scheme:

The charges for information which is available under this scheme are set out under the section called 'Charging Policy'.

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, 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. 

Requests for your own personal data:

Aberdeen University Data Protection Policy

The Data Protection Act (1988) gives data subjects a right to access to personal data held about them by the University, and allows the University to charge a fee for such access (up to a prescribed maximum). The University will however seek to take an approach which facilitates access to their personal data by individuals without them having to make formal subject access requests under the Act, whilst acting within the Data Protection principles.

All formal subject access requests must be responded to within the 40-day period prescribed by the Act, and must be notified to the Data Protection Officer as soon as they are received. Any cases of doubt as to whether a request for access to personal data is a subject access request under the Act must be referred to the Data Protection Officer without delay.

The University will normally charge the prescribed maximum fee (currently £10) for subject access requests to personal data which is processed automatically or held in structured manual files.