Further Freedom of Information (FOI) guidance and upcoming programme
In early August, we shared with members our Open All Hours publication, that provided a template guide to information to aid with meeting the publication requirement under FOI.
We are pleased to announce that we have formed a partnership with TC Young to provide further guidance and services in relation to FOI and data protection.
The first piece of guidance provides template clauses for contracts and procurement arrangements in respect of FOI/Environment Information Regulations, and is available in the downloads section to the right of this article or by clicking on the link below:
Template Procurement Documents Wording and Contract Clauses
The second piece of guidance will be template letters for responding to FOI requests, and a template policy. This will be accompanied by guidance on how and when to use each of the templates provided and will also have input from Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF). This will be available by the end of September.
In addition to the above, SFHA has negotiated the following exclusive member services and benefits with TC Young:
- FOI Helpline – once FOI comes into force in November, TC Young will provide SFHA members with a legal advice line, with up to 20 mins of free legal advice available to each member per call
- Quarterly FOI refresher training sessions for SFHA members
- Data Protection Officer (DPO) advisory service (at a 50% discount for SFHA members)
- A training session each year on data protection aimed at DPOs and those responsible for data protection
TC Young have also been commissioned to update SFHA and GWSF’s June 2018 GDPR guidance and templates, which will also be available to members by the end of September.
We recognise that some members are keen to begin work on templates before the end of September. We have adapted template letters, a template process and a logging spreadsheet from Edinburgh Leisure and can share it with members in the meantime to aid with your ongoing preparations for implementation. This is available on in the downloads section to the right of this article or by clicking on the link below:
Template letters, process and spreadsheet provided by Edinburgh Leisure and adapted by SFHA/GWSF
Finally, SFHA is also in negotiations with a firm who provides Data Protection Officer services. This company undertakes DPO services for those who wish to outsource the DPO requirement – and we are hoping to negotiate a significantly discounted rate for SFHA members who wish to use their services. More details on this will follow shortly.
If you have any queries about any of the above, please contact astokes@sfha.co.uk