Publication Scheme

Introduction

The Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses operating as the Northern Lighthouse Board is one of three General Lighthouse Authorities. The Northern Lighthouse Board is the statutory authority vested with the superintendence and management of all lighthouses, buoys and beacons (collectively known as marine Aids to Navigation) throughout Scotland and the adjacent seas and islands and the Isle of Man.

Under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 the Northern Lighthouse Board has various rights and responsibilities conveyed to it in connection with the provision of maintenance, alteration, inspection and control of marine Aids to Navigation, together with wreck removal powers.

The aim of the Northern Lighthouse Board's Publication Scheme is to explain what information is made available to the public, and wherever possible provide an easy method of accessing this information. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 every public authority has a duty to provide a synopsis of the types of information that will be made available; the methodology that will be used to publish the information; and whether there will be a costs levied to obtain this information. This overview is registered with the Information Commissioner as an organisation's Publication Scheme.

Overall responsibility for the Northern Lighthouse Board's Publication Scheme, at senior management level, lies with the Director of Finance & Administration. The day to day management of the scheme will be provided by
Data Protection and Freedom of Information Compliance Officer
Northern Lighthouse Board
84 George Street
Edinburgh
EH26 9HB
Tel: 0131 473 3100
Fax: 0131 220 2093

Members of the public who wish to obtain information by any method other than through accessing our web site should contact the Northern Lighthouse Board's Information Officer who is based in our Edinburgh Headquarters building.

Classes of Information available under the Publication Scheme

The Northern Lighthouse Board's intention is to publish as much information as possible on subjects in which there is known to be public interest. However, exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 may prevent some information from being released. This will particularly affect the Planning and Performance management class of information where some of the material in this class is derived from documents which we consider to contain exempt information. Where this occurs the material will clearly show where information has been withheld and explain what exemption has been applied and why.

The Northern Lighthouse Board publishes or intends to publish information under the classes listed below:

Access to Information

Unless otherwise indicated, the information described in the Publication Scheme is available from the Northern Lighthouse Board website www.nlb.org.uk or on request in hard copy from:

Information Officer
Northern Lighthouse Board
84 George Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 3DA.
Tel: 0131 473 3113
Fax: 0131 220 2093
E-mail: enquires@nlb.org.uk

An individual's automatic right to be provided with information not covered by the Northern Lighthouse Board's Publication Scheme is not fully operational until after January 2005 however enquiries for information not covered by the scheme will be considered on a case by case basis.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you may request a copy of any personal data which the Northern Lighthouse Board may hold about you. Applications under this legislation should be passed to the Data Protection Officer, Northern Lighthouse Board, 84 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3DA.

Further information about the General Lighthouse Authorities may be viewed free of charge on the HMSO website, www.hmso.gov.uk. Printed copies are available to order, on payment of the appropriate costs, from the Stationery Office website, www.tso.co.uk/bookshop and TSO shops in cities and major towns across the UK.

Among the information published by TSO are

Copyright

Users of the Northern Lighthouse Board will be warned that the material on their site is protected by copyright. They will be advised that they may not make alterations or additions to the material on this site, or sell it or misappropriate it. Material may be downloaded or copied for personal use. However appropriate permission and acknowledgement of the copyright owner is required if the material is re-published in any format.

Charges that the Northern Lighthouse Board will apply for supplying information.

The principal source of information available to the public is through the NLB Website and information supplied through this medium will be provided free of charge. All information on the Website will be provided on request in hard copy but we reserve the right to make a charge for photocopying, printing, postage, etc. All these requests should be directed to the Information Officer for attention.

Requests for information not on the Website will all be addressed to the Information Officer. All such requests and details of the information supplied will be recorded by the Information Officer.

Refusal to meet requests for information

In those circumstances where the Northern Lighthouse Board refuses to meet a request to provide information, the Freedom of Information Compliance Officer will be responsible for advising the member of the public of the circumstances and reasons for not meeting the request.

Any appeals against this non-disclosure will be passed to the Director of Finance