NorthLink Ferries Limited Publication Scheme

Produced as required by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Please note - this document is currently under review with the updated version due online soon.

1. Introduction

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) provides individuals with a right of access to all recorded information held by Scotland’s public authorities. Anyone can use this right, and information can only be withheld where FOISA expressly permits it.

Section 23 of FOISA also requires that all Scottish public authorities maintain a publication scheme. A publication scheme sets out the types of information that a public authority routinely makes available. This scheme has been approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner, who is responsible for FOISA. We are also obliged to review this scheme from time to time.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide you with details of the range of information that we routinely publish. The scheme also provides details of how you can access this information, and tells you whether it is available free, or if there is a charge for the information.

Alongside the Act, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the EIRs) provide a separate right of access to the environmental information held. This publication scheme also contains details of the environmental information that we routinely make available.

Where information is not published under this scheme, you can request it from us under the Act or, in the case of environmental information, the EIRs. For further information on accessing information not covered in this scheme, refer to section 11 – How to access information not available under the scheme.

2. About NorthLink Ferries

NorthLink Ferries Limited (“the Company”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, which in turn is wholly owned by Scottish Ministers. The company (under a different name) was previously dormant and, from July 2006 took on the contract to run the lifeline ferry services to Orkney and Shetland. NorthLink Ferries Limited replaced the previous operator NorthLink Orkney & Shetland Ferries Ltd. NorthLink Ferries Limited has its registered office at The Ferry Terminal, Gourock, PA19 1QP.

The company continues to sail under the “NorthLink” brand (which was transferred from the previous operator) and operate the MV Hjaltland, MV Hrossey, MV Hamnavoe, MV Hildasay and MV Helliar. The company operates from the ferry terminals in Aberdeen, Kirkwall (Hatston), Lerwick, Scrabster and Stromness, as well as a ticket sales office in Kirkwall.

3. Preparing the Publication Scheme

When preparing or reviewing our publication scheme, we are obliged by FOISA to have due regard to the public interest in providing access to the information that we hold which relates to:

the services we provide;
the costs of those services;
the standard of those services;
the facts that inform the important decisions we take;
the reasoning that informs our decisions.

In preparing this publication scheme NorthLink Ferries has conducted an information audit of the Company as part of the Company’s commitment to the creation of a publication scheme which addresses these requirements. A review of past information requests was also undertaken to identify any information for inclusion in the scheme. As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to openness and transparency the publication scheme will be periodically reviewed. Your comments are welcome and will help to revise and update the scheme.

Please contact:
Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
Tel: 01856 885500
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

4. ACCESSING INFORMATION UNDER THE SCHEME

Information available under our publication scheme will normally be available through the routes described below. Section 12 – Classes of Information provides more details on the information available under the scheme, along with additional guidance on how the information falling within each “class” may be accessed.

Please note that NorthLink Ferries is a relatively small company with comparatively few staff. The company does not have a dedicated Records Manager and this role may be undertaken by one of a number of different staff. Arrangements have been made to ensure that e-mails addressed to the Records Manager are routed appropriately.

Online:
Some of the information listed in our publication scheme is available to download from our website, www.northlinkferries.co.uk

If you are still having trouble finding any document listed under our scheme, then please contact Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk for further assistance.

By email:
If the information you seek is listed in our publication scheme but is not published on our website, we can send it to you by email, wherever possible. When requesting information from us, please provide a telephone number so that we can call you to clarify details, if necessary.

By phone:
Information can also be requested from us over the telephone. Please call us on 01856 885500 and ask for the Records Manager to return your call. We will ensure your message is passed on to an appropriate person who will return your call.

By post:
All information under the scheme will normally be available in paper copy form. Please address your request to:

Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
Tel: 01856 885500
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

When writing to us to request information, please include your name and address, full details of the information or documents you would like to receive, and any fee applicable (see Section 6: Our Charging Policy for further information on fees). Please also include a telephone number so we can telephone you to clarify any details, if necessary.

Advice and assistance:
If you have any difficulty identifying the information you want to access, then please contact

Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
Tel: 01856 885500
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

5. INFORMATION THAT WE MAY WITHHOLD

All information covered by our publication scheme can either be accessed through our website, or will be provided promptly following our receipt of your request.

Our aim in maintaining this publication scheme is to be as open as possible. You should note, however, that there may be limited circumstances where information will be withheld from one of the classes of information listed in Section 12 – Classes of Information. Information will only be withheld, however, where FOISA (or, in the case of environmental information, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004) expressly permits it.

Information may be withheld, for example, where its disclosure would breach the law of confidentiality, harm an organisation’s commercial interests, or endanger the protection of the environment. Information may also be withheld if it is another person’s personal information, and its release would breach the data protection legislation

Whenever information is withheld we will inform you of this, and will set out why that information cannot be released. Even where information is withheld it may be possible to provide copies with the withheld information edited out.

If you wish to complain about any information which has been withheld from you, please refer to Section 10 – Complaints.

6. OUR CHARGING POLICY

All information contained within our scheme is available from us free of charge where it can be downloaded from our website or where it can be sent to you electronically by email.

We reserve the right to impose charges for providing information in paper copy or on computer disc. Charges will reflect the actual costs of reproduction and postage to the authority, as set out below.

In the event that a charge is to be levied, you will be advised of the charge and how it has been calculated. Information will not be provided to you until payment has been received.

Reproduction costs:
Where charges are applied, photocopied information will be charged at a standard rate of 10p per A4 side of paper (black and white copy) and 30p per A4 side of paper (colour copy).

Computer discs will be charged at the rate of £1.00 per CD-Rom.

Postage cost:
We will pass on postage charges to the requester at the cost to the authority of sending the information by first class post.

There are also a small number of publications for which NorthLink Ferries Ltd makes a charge. These documents include books and other publications as listed in Section 12 – Classes of Information. These publications will be charged at the cover price, plus actual postage costs, as charged by the Royal Mail. Details of any individual charges which differ from the above charging policy are provided within Section 12 – Classes of Information.

7. OUR COPYRIGHT POLICY

NorthLink Ferries Ltd holds the copyright for the vast majority of information in this publication scheme. All of this information can be copied or reproduced without our formal permission, provided it is copied or reproduced accurately, is not used in a misleading context, and provided that the source of the material is identified.

The publication scheme may, however, contain information where the copyright holder is not NorthLink Ferries Ltd. In most cases the copyright holder will be obvious from the documents. In cases where the copyright is unclear, however, 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 breaching the rights of the copyright holder. Wherever possible, this scheme will indicate where we do not own the copyright on documents within Section 12 – Classes of Information.

Information about Crown copyright material is available on the website of the Queens Printer for Scotland at www.oqps.gov.uk . We can provide you with a copy of this information if you do not have internet access.

8. OUR RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL POLICY

The Records Management Policy for David MacBrayne Group, of which NorthLink Ferries is part, is available on request at the following address:

Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
Tel: 01856 885500
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

The policy sets out the Company’s aims and commitment to records management across the Group.

9. FEEDBACK

FOISA requires that we review our publication scheme from time to time. As a result, we welcome feedback on how we can develop our scheme further. If you would to comment on any aspect of this publication scheme, then please contact us. You may, for example wish to tell us about:

other information that you would like to see included in the scheme;
whether you found the scheme easy to use;
whether you found the publication scheme useful;
whether our staff were helpful;
other ways in which our publication scheme can be improved.

Please send any comments or suggestions to:

Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
Tel: 01856 885500
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

10. COMPLAINTS

Our aim is to make our publication scheme as user-friendly as possible, and we hope that you can access all the information we publish with ease. If you do wish to complain about any aspect of the publication scheme, however, then please contact us, and we will try and resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. You can contact:

Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
Tel: 01856 885500
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

Any complaint will be acknowledged within two working days of receipt and we will respond in full within twenty working days.

You have legal rights to access information under this scheme and a right of appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner if you are dissatisfied with our response. These rights apply only to information requests made in writing* or another recordable format. If you are unhappy with our responses to your request you can ask us to review it and if you are still unhappy, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

The Commissioner’s website has a guide to this three step process, and he operates an enquiry service on Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. His office can be contacted as follows:

Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS

Tel: 01334 464610
Email: enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info
Website: www.itspublicknowledge.info

*verbal requests for environmental information carry similar rights.

11. 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 (EIRs) 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:

Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
Tel: 01856 885500
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

Charges for information which is not available under the scheme:
The charges for information which is available under this scheme are set out under section 6 – Our 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 that 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:
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to ask NorthLink Ferries to inform you whether it possesses any personal information relating to you and if so to provide you with a copy of such data. This is called a subject access request.

If you wish to access your personal information from NorthLink Ferries you should make your request in writing to the following address:

Records Manager
NorthLink Ferries Ltd
The Ferry Terminal
Stromness
KW16 3BH
e-mail: Records.Manager@Northlinkferries.co.uk

Your request should include a contact address and documented evidence of who you are (copy of your driving licence, passport or birth certificate). You should also provide as much detail as possible regarding the information you wish to access. You may be asked for additional details in order to locate the information you require. A payment of £10 will also be required from you prior to the search for your information.

The Company will aim to meet your request within 40 days of receiving from you all of the above information and payment of the £10 fee.

12. CLASSES OF INFORMATION

The following classes set out the information which NorthLink Ferries Ltd. is making available under this publication scheme.

Class 1 Legal Framework

This class of information provides details of the legal status of NorthLink Ferries Ltd.

Related Documents: Certificate of Incorporation
Memorandum of Association
Articles of Association
Address of Registered Office*

Format: All documents are available in paper copy. Some documents are available in other formats, as shown.

*Available on the website: www.northlinkferries.co.uk or by e-mail.

Timescale of availability: Current versions of these documents are permanently available.

Fee: Online access and e-mails are free.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

Class 2 Organisational Information

This class of information provides a general outline of NorthLink Ferries, including statutory duties, responsibilities, organisational structure, key personnel, geographical coverage and contact details.

Related Documents: ‘About us’ (Company information)*
Mission statement *
Grant Agreement with the Scottish Executive
Board of Directors and Senior Management*
Offices and Ports contact information*
Route information*
Fleet Information*

Format: All documents are available in paper copy.
*These documents are available on the website: www.northlinkferries.co.uk or by email

Timescale of availability: All information listed above is updated as and when required. Any changes required will be incorporated within four weeks of being approved.

Fee: Online access and e-mails are free.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

Class 3 Annual Report and Financial Statements

The Annual Report incorporates the Company’s financial statements and, in addition, provides strategic, operational and statistical information designed to give the reader a better understanding of the Company's operations and objectives.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare accounts for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit and loss for that year. In preparing those accounts, the directors are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the accounts; and
Prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and to enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Companies Act 1985. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the company and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Format: This document is available on the website www.david-macbrayne.co.uk/reports or in paper copy or by e-mail.

Timescale of availability: The Company’s Annual Report and Financial Statements cover the period from 1st April to 31st March. The documents will be available once they have been filed with Companies House, and will continue to be available until twelve months after the end of the contract.

Fee: Online access and e-mails are free.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

Class 4 Minutes of Board Meetings

This class of information covers the minutes of formal Board meetings. The minutes contain discussions of key strategic and operational issues and details of decisions taken with regard to resource and budgetary matters.

Related Documents: Minutes of Board meetings

Format: These documents are available in paper copy, on request. Some documents may be available by e-mail.

Timescale of availability: Minutes of Board meetings will be available within four weeks of being approved.

Fee: E-mails are free.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

Class 5 Environment

This class of information provides an outline of NorthLink Ferries’ environmental policy and statistical information on environmental management.

Types/Related Documents: Environmental policy

Format: This document is available in paper copy or by e-mail, on request.

Timescale of availability: Revisions to all documents will be incorporated into this publication scheme within four weeks of being approved. New documents will be added as they become available.

Fee: Online access and e-mails are free.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

Class 6 Policies and Management

This class of information provides current statements of principles or policy, giving guidance and direction to all staff in respect of a specific issue or piece of legislation. Policies establish the expected organisational behaviour thereby leading to a consistent approach to decision-making.

Policies are subject to regular review and as necessary new policies are developed.

Format: All documents are available in paper copy or by email.

Timescale of availability: Revisions to existing policy documents will be incorporated into this publication scheme within four weeks of being approved. New policy documents will be added as they become available.

Fee: Online access and e-mails are free.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

Class 7 Promotional and Advisory Material

NorthLink Ferries produces a range of promotional and advisory leaflets and related material. These publications are revised and added to on a regular basis. Selected leaflets are available from local port offices.

Related Documents: Consumer brochure including timetables and fares
Conditions of carriage
Commercial vehicles conditions of carriage
Travelling with Pets*
Islander Information*
Travel Trade*
Cinema Information*

Format: All documents are available in paper copy.
*These documents are available on the website: www.northlinkferries.co.uk or by email

Timescale of availability: Timetable and tariff information is updated annually. Other promotional material is updated as and when required.

Fee: Online access and e-mails are free.
Promotional literature is available free of charge.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

Class 8 Performance

This class of information provides monthly data on the punctuality and reliability of services.

Related Documents: Performance Report

Format: All documents are available in paper copy or by email, on request.

Timescale of availability: This information is updated on a monthly basis, in arrears.

Fee: Copies supplied by e-mail are free.
Printed copy will be charged at 10 pence per page (excluding VAT).

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