FOI Training

Information Governance Briefing Sessions

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 imposes obligations and requirements on the University, which affect all Academic and Professional Services staff working at our University. It is essential therefore that you understand your responsibilities under this Act.   The Data Protection legislation places similar obligations and compliance standards on all staff.

Governance Services provide in-house briefing sessions (known as Information Governance briefings) which cover both the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Data Protection legislation (General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018).

All staff should attend one of these sessions as part of their induction process and as a refresher every two years, as the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts have implications for everyone in relation to the management of personal and University information. It is vital that staff understand their responsibilities under these Acts.

The Governance Services training session lasts half a day and covers FOI, Records Management and Data Protection.  The aims of the FOI part are to: 

• give an overview of Freedom of Information legislation as it applies to the University, and
• provide details of how you should deal with a request for information.

A more detailed text version of the Freedom of Information presentation, with links to further information, can be found in a blog  here​.

Further details regarding the course can also be found  here​. 

Good records management is central to compliance with both the Data Protection legislation and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This session will also provide practical advice on creating, managing and disposing of records.  Details of more specific Records Management training courses can be found here.

If you are interested in attending the Information Governance or Records Management sessions, either log into HR Connect (Learning) or visit the Learning and Development intranet pages.

Online Training

An online training module is available as an introductory or refresher course which can be completed in your own time, and supplements the Information Governance briefing sessions. Training updates are essential to ensure that University staff members are aware of their responsibilities under the Act and comply with the legislation. Ideally refreshers should be done by all staff members annually, alternating between the online training and face-to-face briefing sessions.

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