HIAL Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (The Act) (FOISA) received Royal Assent on 28th May 2002. The Act gives a general right of access to all types of information held by Scottish public authorities, sets out exemptions form that right places a number of obligations on public authorities, including the development of an approved Publication Scheme. HIAL publishes this Scheme as it is wholly owned by the Scottish Ministers and is deemed to be a public authority for the purposes of the Act.

Section 23)1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act requires every Scottish public authority to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme, to publish information in accordance with the Scheme and to periodically review the Scheme.

Section 23(2) of the Act states that:

A Publication Scheme must specify:
(a) Classes of information that the authority publishes or intends to publish
(b) The manner in which the information of each class is, or is intended to be, publishes:
(c) Whether the published information is, or is intended to be, available to the public free of charge or on payment.

Section 23(3) states that in adopting or reviewing the Publication Scheme, the authority must have regard to the public interest in:

• Allowing public access to information held by it and in particular, to information which:
• Relates to the provision of services by it, the cost of providing them or the standards attained by services so provided; or
• Consists of facts, or analyses, on the basis of which decisions or importance to the public have been made by it; The Publication of reasons for decision to be made by it.

The above principles have been adopted in the compilation of this Publication Scheme. HIAL has regard to the public interest in the information it holds.

We have been mindful of the value of openness and transparency in preparing to meet our obligations under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

This is why the Act states with a general right to information. Section 1 of the Act says that "A person who requests information from a Scottish public authority which holds it is entitled to be given it by the authority."

The full text of HIAL's Publication Scheme is contained in the PDF document available here for downloading.

If you have any comments about our Scheme, require further assistance or need to make a complaint, in the first instance, please write to:

Michelle Bowling
Business Support Manager
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited
Head Office
Inverness Airport
Inverness
IV2 7JB 
Telephone: 01667 462 445
Fax: 01667 464 300 
Email: hial@hial.co.uk