Subsidiary companies

Wholly owned subsidiary companies of the University are responsible for their own compliance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). Compliance with FOISA is regulated by the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner (OSIC).

This guidance sets out the support available to wholly owned subsidiary companies from the University.

There are 3 strands of being subject to Freedom of information :

1. Responding to requests

Wholly owned subsidiaries must respond to requests for recorded information within 20 working days in accordance with the requirements of FOISA.

The University has guidance on FOISA here, however this is aimed at University staff, our processes and procedures will not always be relevant to subsidiary companies.

University freedom of information guidance

OSIC's guidance on FOISA

In the event you receive a request the Records Management Section can provide advice. However the assistance we are able to provide will be more limited than that available to the University. This is because the University is not legally responsible for responses.

2. Publishing information

Subsidiaries must adopt a publication scheme and proactively publish information and a "Guide to Information" as specified by OSIC. All Guides to Information created by subsidiary companies should be linked to on the Finance website.

A template and some guidance is available on our wiki.

Publication schemes for subsidiary companies wiki.

3. Records management

Public authorities subject to FOISA are required to follow the Scottish Ministers’ Code of Practice on Records Management by Scottish Public Authorities under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. The code of practice forms a requirement to establish and maintain complete records management systems and procedures.

For more information, see the University's records management website.

Records management website

Further advice

OSIC guidance for new bodies subject to FOISA