FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
PUBLICATION SCHEME - PART 1

Introduction
This publication scheme is a requirement under the Freedom of Information Act 2002. Under Section 23 of the Act we have a duty to publish information in accordance with this publications scheme. This Act promotes greater openness and accountability across the public sector by requiring all public authorities to make information available proactively, through a publication scheme. Angus College is committed to publishing the information it describes below.

About Angus College
Angus College has a history of steady growth since its establishment in 1957. Currently around 8,500 students and trainees, (over 1700 full-time students) enrol annually and around 80% of these achieve the qualifications for which they enrol. The College currently employs over 350 staff annually, (213 full-time equivalent (FTE)), of whom 109 (FTE) are lecturers and 104 (FTE) are support staff.

In April 1993 the College achieved corporate status and is now independently managed with responsibility for all staff and resources. The Board of Management is responsible for the overall management of the College and, as a corporate body, is employer for all staff.

Overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the College and the management of its resources rests with the Board of Management, with the Principal operating as Chief Executive and educational adviser to the Board. The Board of Management includes representatives from local industry, the professions, the Local Enterprise Company, the public sector and College staff and students.

Following recent structural changes, the Principal is supported by an Executive Team of a Depute Principal, a Director of Learning and Teaching, and two Assistant Directors of Learning and Teaching, a Director of Quality and Curriculum Support, and two Assistant Directors of Support Management. The Executive Team has responsibility for the management, academic development and administration of the College. Also in key cross-College positions are a range of functional support managers in areas such as Estates, Contracts Staff Development, Student Services, Learning Resources, Marketing, Finance, Quality, Commercial Services and Personnel.

The College offers a wide range of courses up to HND level, based across 3 Curriculum Centres in subject areas as diverse as Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation, Business, Management, Tourism, Communication, Languages, Construction, Joinery, Engineering, Art, Crafts and Design, Hospitality/Catering, Hairdressing, Care, Special Programmes, Computing, Information Technology and Office Administration.

The College offers training and consultancy on a commercial basis through its commercial wing - Ubi Consulting - and has a major Conference Centre facility, providing conference and meetings facilities both commercially and for various community groups.

In addition to the main campus the College has specialist facilities for Agricultural and Horticultural work at St Vigeans Glebe and Dens Road in Arbroath. The College's commitment to meeting the educational needs of the Angus community is reflected in its outreach centres in Forfar, Montrose, Kirriemuir and Brechin, offering a range of facilities and services for students and commercial clients.

The College has an annual budget of around �8 million, and is recognised as being one of the most efficient and financially sound colleges within the Further Education sector. A significant part of this budget is spent on staffing and a commitment to training and development is recognised as being essential to ensure that our strategic objectives are met.

Angus College operates a team-based structure and each area of the curriculum is led and managed by one of thirteen teams of academic and, as appropriate, support staff. Each team is led by a Team Leader with additional support provided on curriculum delivery, development, and review by Course Leaders. All teams are responsible for their own courses and for the continuous improvement of the service they provide to learners. Support Teams are led and managed in a similar way, with each of the 11 Teams led by a specialist functional Manager.

All Teams produce annual development plans and self-evaluative annual reports outlining their objectives, and detailing their achievements in respect of these objectives and against a number of key performance indicators. The academic teams are each supported by one of three Curriculum Directors and receive support and guidance as necessary from a range of curriculum and functional support teams.

As an education and training organisation, the College puts great emphasis on quality assurance and the need for continuous quality improvement. This commitment is demonstrated by the achievement of the British Standards Institute BS EN ISO 9002:1994 quality standard, the achievement of the Investors in People standard, the award of devolution of authority under Scottish Qualifications Authority arrangements and recognition under the local enterprise company SQMS quality framework. The College was a finalist in the 2001 Management Today/Unisys Service Excellence Awards, was also a finalist in 2000 & 1998, and received the Charter Mark Award for excellence in customer services in 1997 and again in 2000. The College has been actively involved in a number of national and further education sector quality initiatives, in particular the Strategic Quality Management (SQM) project and the development pilot for the Self-Evaluation Quality model in Scottish Further Education.

Formulating the publication scheme
Angus College has adopted the model publication scheme developed for Scottish Further Education Institutions. This model publication scheme was prepared by the Association of Scottish Colleges (ASC) in partnership with Universities Scotland's Freedom of Information Working Group. ASC made a consultation draft available to all member institutions. It also made the draft available to a number of stakeholders, including the trade unions recognised by ASC member institutions, The National Union of Students and the Scottish Consumers Council.

Responsibility for the publication scheme
The person responsible for the overall running of the publication scheme is:

Jackie Howie
Depute Principal
Angus College
Keptie Road
Arbroath
DD11 3EA

Telephone No: 01241 432692
E-mail: jackie.howie@angus.ac.uk

The person responsible for the day-to-day responsibility of the publication scheme is:

Charlie Rosie
Learning Centre Manager
Angus College
Keptie Road
Arbroath
DD11 3EA

Telephone No: 01241 432719
E-mail: foi@angus.ac.uk

Exemptions
Information may be withheld from any of the classes of information listed below where we consider that disclosure may seriously prejudice law enforcement, legal proceedings or our regulatory or enforcement activity or where the disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law. We may also withhold information if its disclosure would breach the law of confidentiality or seriously prejudice the commercial interests of any person or organisation, including statistical information in cases where small numbers may allow the identification of individuals. We reserve the right to publish some items without certain parts which may be exempt. We may also withhold information which is personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Archiving Policy
Data Protection Policy and Procedure
Data Protection Data Lists

Copyright Policy
Information obtained from this publication scheme can be copied or reproduced without 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 and the copyright status acknowledged. Where information provided is from a third party it is recommended that the consent of the third party is sought before the information is copied.

Accessing information under the publication scheme
The classes of information we publish are described in the second part of the scheme. We have indicated the manner in which the information will be available. We have also indicated whether charges apply to material in each class.

Please note previous copies of documents may be available, depending upon the College's archiving policy. For further details please contact Charlie Rosie as detailed below.

To request information available through our publication scheme, please contact: e-mail foi@angus.ac.uk; or telephone 01241 432717 or write to the address below:

Charlie Rosie
Learning Centre Manager
Angus College
Keptie Road
Arbroath
DD11 3EA

Some of our information is available on-site at our Learning Centre at the address above, opening hours are Monday - Friday 0900 - 1700 hours

Please note you can request any of our documents in large print or Braille. Please contact Charlie Rosie using the above contact details.

Charging Policy
Most of our documents are available on our website and are therefore available to print free of charge. Documents which are only available in hard copy only (paper) are charged at 50pence per page to cover administration and postage costs.

Complaints Procedure
Quality Procedure - Client Feedback Complaints & Improvement Suggestions

If we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Information Commissioner, the independent body who oversees the Freedom of Information Act:

Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Walter Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Feedback Procedure
It is important that this publication scheme meets your needs. If you find the scheme difficult to understand, please let us know. We would also welcome any suggestions as to how our scheme might be improved. Any questions or comments about this scheme can be sent via e-mail to foi@angus.ac.uk or be sent in writing to:

Charlie Rosie
Learning Centre Manager
Angus College
Keptie Road
Arbroath
DD11 3EA

Tel: (01241 432717)