One of the obligations for public bodies under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is that they produce and maintain a publication scheme. This is essentially a guide to the information they routinely make available to the public in hard copy or in electronic format. The purpose behind these schemes is to help the public understand what publicly funded bodies do and how they do it.

Dunstable College has produced its publication scheme and this has been approved by the Information Commissioner. A copy will be available from the College Library for reference.

In common with the majority of other colleges, Dunstable College followed a model publication scheme prepared by JISC (The Joint Information Systems Committee) and approved by the Information Commissioner. By following the model, it should mean that our scheme has a similar format to the schemes produced by other further education colleges and this should make it easier for users to find information about the College and to compare information across the sector. The scheme should also act as a useful reference tool for College staff to find out more about the College.

Freedom of Information Guidance

* A Guide to Charging Fees
* Handling Requests - A Management Guide
* Handling Requests - Guide for Staff
* Enquiry Log Form
* A Guide for Applicants
These documents will be published as links shortly. In the meantime please contact the Secretray to the Principal & Chief Executive of the College for further guidance.

The scheme is divided into nine main sections and a short summary is provided of what you can expect to find in each.

1. Governance
This section covers information relating to the way the College is governed and how decisions are made. It includes information on the legal status of the College, which individual member of staff or group within the organisation is responsible for specific functions and where they fit in the overall structure of the organisation. In some instances information from committee minutes will be exempt from disclosure where it contains personal information, information that may damage the commercial interests of the College or that may threaten the health and safety of specific individuals.

2. Financial Resources
This section covers information on the College’s strategy and management of financial resources. The Finance Department provides accounting, procurement and contracting services, helping to make best use of resources and fulfilling statutory responsibilities. Information that may damage the College’s commercial interests will be excluded from publication.

3. Human Resources
This section covers information on the College’s strategy and management of human resources, rather than information relating to individual members of staff which is exempt from disclosure as personal information. The information available covers personnel policies and procedures (including terms and conditions of service including all current versions of the information specified in each class).

4. Physical Resources
Colleges are often substantial land and property owners in their own right. The Class in this section covers information at a strategic level relating to the College’s management of its physical resources. Information that provides specific details of the College’s future plans to alter its estate (eg proposals to purchase additional property) may be exempt from disclosure where such disclosure would damage the College’s commercial interests.

5. Student Administration and Support
This section contains information on how the College manages the administration and progression of their students from admission to course completion, including student support services. Information available within this section does not include specific student personal details, by virtue of being personal information.

6. Information Services
This section covers those functions within the College that provide access to information for the student body and both academic and administrative staff. (These include libraries, computing services and information support services.) Such functions may be managed separately from each other, or in various combinations. These services routinely explain their facilities (and the conditions of their use) to students, staff and the general public and it is information of this nature that is included within this section. Information services inevitably hold large quantities of personal data that are exempt from general disclosure.

7. Teaching and Learning
This section contains information regarding the management of teaching and learning within the College, including mechanisms for reviewing and ensuring the quality of teaching provided.

8. Research and Development
This section covers information relating to the College’s management and funding of its research activities – it does not include the actual results or data from research undertaken. It should also be noted that in some cases information that reveals the identity of those involved in the research process maybe exempt from publication for health and safety reasons.

9. External Relations
This section covers information relating to the College’s relationship with its external environment. These include the formal reports the College is required to provide to its funding bodies (where these are already in the public domain, web links should be provided or details of how they can be obtained), the College’s arrangements with other educational institutions, how it manages its relationship with the local community and how it retains contact with its former staff and students. By virtue of their nature, most sCollege will probably find that the majority of these classes are already made available to the public by some means. Members of the public are also likely to find the same or related information is available from the external partners with which the College has links.

Requests for Information

The information in the scheme can be provided in either electronic or/and hard copy. Anyone requiring access to a hard copy publication should contact the Secretary to the Principal and Chief Executive. Most information can be provided free of charge, but there is a fee for some hard copy information and if this is the case it is stated in the scheme.