Freedom of Information

In the interests of greater openness and accountability across the public sector, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 requires The Royal Academy of Music to proactively make information publicly available. Under Section 19 of the FOIA, each public authority must also produce a publication scheme.

The Academy has adopted the model publication scheme developed for the higher education sector. This publication scheme sets out the categories of information already published, or to be published in the future, and how this may be accessed. This is not a list of the actual publications, as this will change as new material is published or existing material revised. It is, however, our commitment to make available the information described.

A dataset is a collection of factual information e.g. raw or source data that has been obtained, or recorded, by public authority in connection with the provision of a service. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 requires all public authorities to release datasets, disclosed as a result of Freedom of Information Act requests, in re-usable electronic format. The Academy provides these datasets for use under the Open Government Licence (OGL).

Further data can be viewed on the HESA website. HESA publishes data on all aspects of the UK higher education sector including students, staff and graduates. The Royal Academy of Music submits data to HESA on an annual basis.

Publications are free, unless otherwise stated. Where hard copy information is provided photocopies may be charged at 20p per sheet and postage charged if in excess of £5. Publications may also be made available in alternative formats by special request, but a charge may be made to cover production costs.

Charges may also apply, or requests refused, if the estimated cost of responding to your request exceeds £450; see ‘Refusing a request’ below.

Making a request

Requests for information not included on the publication scheme should be made by email to foi@ram.ac.uk

Alternatively, please submit your request in writing to:

David Piper
Management Information Co-ordinator
Academic Secretariat
Royal Academy of Music
Marylebone Road
London
NW1 5HT

We aim to respond to individual requests within 20 working days.

Please note that requests for access to personal information are considered under the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.

Refusing a request

The Freedom of Information Act includes exemptions which allow authorities to refuse a request for information. These are listed below, with more information being available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.

If the Royal Academy of Music refuses your request we will provide detail of which exemption applies and why it is being applied.

Absolute exemptions

Information does not have to be released when it is:

• accessible by other means;
• intended for future publication; or
• information supplied to, or relating to:
  • bodies dealing with security matters;
  • court records;
  • parliamentary privilege;
  • personal information*;
  • information provided in confidence;
  • information whose disclosure is prohibited by law.

* Requests for access to personal information are considered under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and FOIA Section 40.

Qualified exemptions

These are exemptions whereby the Academy to may refuse to disclose information. In order to decide whether the exemption applies, we will consider whether the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Other reasons for refusing a request

There is a clause within the Freedom of Information Act which allows authorities not to respond if the cost to the institution is £450 or more. This cost, referred to in the act as the ‘appropriate limit’ is based on the following:

• determining whether our authority holds the information;
• locating the information, or a document which may contain it;
• retrieving the information, or a document which may contain it; and
• extracting the information from a document containing it.

If the cost of above exceeds the appropriate limit the Academy has the right to either refuse the request or to offer to respond in return for a fee representing the full cost of answering the request.

Publication Scheme

The section below itemises the different information classes in our Publication Scheme.

Complaints Policy

We aim to provide as much information as possible in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the independent public body which promotes public access to official information, and whose remit includes the enforcement and overseeing of the Freedom of Information Act. They have set out the grounds on which a complaint can be issued. These are:

• Failure to provide the information you requested
• Failure to respond to your request within 20 working days (or failure to explain why longer than 20 working days is needed)
• Failure to give you proper advice and help
• Failure to give information in the form in which you requested it
• Failure to properly explain any reasons for refusing the request
• Failure to correctly apply an exemption under the Act

If you are unhappy with our response to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, please contact;

The Information Governance Group
(c/o David Piper, Management Information Co-ordinator)
Royal Academy of Music
Marylebone Road London NW1 5HT
Email: d.piper@ram.ac.uk