Freedom of Information Policy | Publication Scheme | Publication Scheme Contact Form

1. Introduction
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2005 (“the Act”) gives a general right of access to information held by or on behalf of public authorities, promoting a culture of openness and accountability across the public sector.  Any person who makes a request to TACTRAN 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 TACTRAN Publication Scheme is intended to be as inclusive as possible, improving public access to information and increasing public involvement.  The purpose of this scheme is to make information available so that it can be accessed without having to make an individual request.  This scheme details:-

• the classes of information TACTRAN publishes or intends to publish;
• how information is published; and
• whether the information is available free of charge or requires payment of a fee.

 It is intended that, where possible, information will be available via the Partnership’s website www.tactran.gov.uk.  Requests can also be made for printed information to be sent by post, or electronic files to be sent by email.

2. About tactran: the Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership
TACTRAN is one of seven statutory Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) created by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005.  TACTRAN covers the local authority areas of Angus, Dundee City, Perth & Kinross and Stirling Councils.

The Partnership’s governing body comprises 10 Councillor Members appointed by the partner councils and 4 or 5 non-Councillor Members, who were initially appointed by Ministers and are now appointed by the Partnership, subject to receiving the consent of Scottish Ministers.

The Partnership meets in public 4 – 6 times per year, normally in rotation across the four partner Council areas.  The dates and venues of meetings are published at the constituent Councils’ premises and on the TACTRAN website.

The Partnerships works with partner Councils, Health Boards, National Parks, other Regional Transport Partnerships, Scottish Government, Transport Scotland, passenger transport and freight transport providers, and other relevant stakeholders, to promote development of regional and national transport infrastructure, services and facilities, with a view to supporting sustainable economic growth and social inclusion through the promotion and development of a safer, sustainable, integrated, and efficient network of road, rail, sea and air.

TACTRAN operates at a strategic level.  Its core responsibility is the development of a statutory Regional Transport Strategy and promoting the delivery of this strategy.  The Partnership does not currently have day to day responsibility for the delivery or maintenance of transport services or infrastructure.

The Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) received Ministerial approval on 24 June 2008.  The RTS will be reviewed annually and will also be subject to comprehensive review 4-yearly, in line with statutory requirements.  The delivery priorities of the RTS will be identified in the RTS Delivery Plan.  

The day-to-day work of TACTRAN is taken forward by the Partnership’s core staffing establishment of 8 full-time personnel, consisting of the Partnership Director, Strategy Manager, Projects Manager, Travel Plan Officer, Office Manager/PA to Director, two Technical Officers and one Administrative assistant.  The Partnership’s staff and headquarters are centrally located within the Region at:-

Bordeaux House

31 Kinnoull Street

Perth

PH1 5EN

e-mail info@tactran.gov.uk

Telephone 01738 475775

Additional administrative, financial, legal advice and support are provided by the Partnership’s 3 Proper Officers.  Partnership Secretariat, Treasury and Legal Officer support are provided under a Service Level Agreement with Perth & Kinross Council.

3. Formulating this Scheme
Regional Transport Partnerships are included in the list of public authorities covered by the Act.  The Act requires TACTRAN to prepare, adopt and maintain a scheme setting out the information the Partnership makes, or is likely to make, available to the public, and in what format information can be obtained.  This Publication Scheme must be approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

In formulating this scheme TACTRAN has 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 RTS projects and initiatives

4. Responsibility for this Publication Scheme
The person responsible for the day-to-day management of this Publication Scheme is the designated Freedom of Information (FoI) Officer.  The FoI Officer will regularly review this publication scheme.  Any comments or complaints about the scheme should be forwarded to the FoI Officer using the following contact details:

Ashley Roger

Office Manager/PA to Director

TACTRAN
Bordeaux House

31 Kinnoull Street

Perth

PH1 5EN

Tel: 01738 475775

Fax: 01738 639705

E-mail: ashleyroger@tactran.gov.uk  

Website: www.tactran.gov.uk  

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

5. Exemptions
TACTRAN aims to be as open as possible.  However, information from any of the classes listed in section 10 below may be withheld if the Partnership considers 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.  When an exemption exists, it may be possible to provide copies with the exempted information edited out.

6. Copyright Statement
Copyright for the majority of information in this Publication Scheme is held by TACTRAN.  Formal permission for copying and reproducing this information does not need to be sought from TACTRAN provided it is copied or reproduced accurately, is not used in a misleading context, that the source of the material is identified, and the copyright status acknowledged.

The Publication Scheme also covers material where the copyright holder is not TACTRAN.  We have endeavoured to ensure that the copyright holder is obvious from the documents.  However, where the copyright is unclear, 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 acting in a manner which may breach the rights of the copyright holder.  Wherever possible, this scheme indicates where TACTRAN does not own the copyright on documents.

7. Access to information
This Publication Scheme lists information that is, or is likely to be, routinely published by TACTRAN. 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 Partnership’s website at www.tactran.gov.uk.  Publicly available computer terminals are provided by all four constituent councils of TACTRAN.

By Email - Requests for information to be sent via e-mail should be forwarded to info@tactran.gov.uk.  Where information is held electronically but is not on the website, we will send it electronically where practicable.  Where the volume of information makes this impractical we may send the information on a CD-Rom.

By Post - Copies of documents can be requested to be sent by post.  Requests for printed copies should be made to:-

Ashley Roger

Office Manager/PA to Director

TACTRAN

Bordeaux House

31 Kinnoull Street

Perth

PH1 5EN

Tel: 01738 475775

Fax: 01738 639705

Requests for information can be made using the form at Appendix A.  Alternatively, when writing to the address above, please include your name and address, contact telephone number and details of the information you would like to receive.

There may be a charge for the information provided, as specified in sections 8 and 10 below.

By Telephone - Information can be requested over the telephone on 01738 475775 or by fax on 01738 639705.  Please provide full contact details, including telephone number, so that we can telephone to clarify any details, if necessary.

8. Charging Policy
Information in this scheme is available free of charge when viewed on or downloaded from the TACTRAN website or can be sent via e-mail.  For those without access to the website a single printout of the website, or a hard copy of the document, can be requested.  These will be provided free of charge except where indicated in section 10 below.

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

9. Contacts, feedback & complaints
TACTRAN welcomes any comments, suggestions or complaints with regard to this Scheme.  As part of our statutory duty we are required to review our Publication Scheme periodically and constructive feedback which can assist in developing our scheme further is always welcomed.  Any questions, comments or complaints about this scheme should be submitted via e-mail or in writing to:-

Eric Guthrie,

Partnership Director

TACTRAN

Bordeaux House

31 Kinnoull Street

Perth

PH1 5EN

Tel: 01738 475775

Fax: 01738 639705

E-mail: ericguthrie@tactran.gov.uk

Website: www.tactran.gov.uk 

In the event that we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Scottish Information Commissioner who oversees the Act.  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

10. Classes of information
The classes of information that TACTRAN publishes or intends to publish are listed below. This publication scheme does not contain all of the information held by TACTRAN.  If the information you require does not appear under any of the following categories or is not available elsewhere on the website the contact details above should be used to make a request.

11. Useful Resources

Scottish Government Website

Transport Scotland Website

Regional Transport Strategy

tactran Publication Scheme

tactran Agendas and Minutes