The Royal Academy of Music has adopted the model publication scheme for higher education. Information is available under the following headings: test test
Who we are and what we do
Legal framework
How the institution is organised
Terms of Reference of Key Committees: available on request
Location and contact details
Student activities
What we spend and how we spend it
Funding / income
Financial statements, budgets and variance reports
Details of expenditure over £25,000: available on request
Revenue budgets and budgets for capital expenditure: available on request
Financial audit reports: available on request
Capital programme: available on request
Financial regulations and procedures
Staff pay and grading structures
Other staff pay and grading structures: available on request
Pay multiple: available on request
Procurement and tender procedures and reports
Contracts that exceed £25,000: available on request
Research funding: available on request
What our priorities are and how we are doing
Annual report, corporate and business plans
Teaching and learning strategy, academic quality and standards
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL AUDIT; REVIEW INFORMATION
Reports from the Governing Body and Finance and General Purposes Committee: available on request
GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY REPORTS
External Auditor’s Statement: available on request
COMPLIANCE WITH DUTIES UNDER THE EQUALITY ACT 2010
HOW WE MAKE DECISIONS
GOVERNING BODY
Minutes of Academic Board: available on request
OUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
PROCEDURES AND POLICIES RELATING TO ACADEMIC SERVICES
PROCEDURES AND POLICIES RELATING TO STUDENT SERVICES
Procedures and policies relating to human resources: available on request
Pay policy statement: available on request
PROCEDURES AND POLICIES RELATING TO RECRUITMENT
Code of conduct for members of governing bodies: available on request
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY POLICIES INCLUDING EQUALITY SCHEME
ESTATE MANAGEMENT
Estate Management Strategy: Currently under review
COMPLAINTS POLICY
RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PERSONAL DATA POLICIES
RESEARCH POLICY AND STRATEGY
Research Committee minutes: available on request
Research Strategy: available on request
Research Excellence Framework (REF): available on request
Publicly funded research outputs and data: available on request
Charging regimes and policies
FOI Publication Scheme Charges Policy: see below.
LISTS AND REGISTERS
CCTV
DISCLOSURE LOGS
Register of staff interests: available on request
Register of gifts and hospitality provided to senior staff: available on request
Senior staff’s declaration of interests: available on request
THE SERVICES WE OFFER
INDIVIDUAL REQUESTS
Individual requests for information not included on the publication scheme should be made in writing, or by email, to David Piper, Management Information Co-ordinator, Academic Secretariat, Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London NW1 5HT. Email foi@ram.ac.uk. We aim to respond to individual requests within 20 working days.
CHARGES
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.
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: www.ico.gov.uk. 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.
Request for access to personal information are considered under the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.
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.