FOI Publication Scheme

Legal requirement

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires all public authorities (including universities and colleges) to adopt and maintain a publication scheme from 1 January 2009. The FOIA promotes greater openness and accountability across the public sector by requiring all 'public authorities' to make information available proactively through a publication scheme.

What is a publication scheme?

A publication scheme is a document which describes the information a public authority publishes or intends to publish. In this context, 'publish' means to make information available routinely. A publication scheme must set out the classes, or categories, of information published. It must make clear how the information described can be accessed and whether or not charges will be made.

This publication scheme

The purpose of the scheme is to give a clear indication of which College publications are routinely accessible so that the public can be informed as far as reasonably possible of the purpose and nature of college activities, and to assist in developing a greater culture of openness in general.

Through the scheme, the College endeavours to be as transparent as possible about its activities, while at the same time recognising that there are exemptions within the Act.

St Peter's College is a college of the University of Oxford. Further information about the College's history can be found here.
The management of the College and the furtherance of its charitable objects is entrusted to the Governing Body, which is made up of the Master and all the Official and Professorial Fellows of the College. Members of the Governing Body are treated by law as charity trustees.

Admissions: The College admits undergraduate students and awards college places to postgraduate students who are admitted by the University. The College also welcomes a number of Visiting Students each year. Further information can be found here.

Teaching: The College provides teaching for undergraduate and Visiting students and supports graduate students through the provision of college advisers.

Research: The College employs staff, provides fellowships for academic staff and supports research financially and through sabbatical leave.

Student Services: The College provides services to its students, including accommodation, catering, health and welfare support, IT services, library provision and financial support. These are outlined in the Student Administrative Handbook.

Chapel: Further information can be found here.

Development and alumni: Further information can be found here.

Conference business: Further information can be found here.

The College's income comes from a number of sources. Firstly there is income from the College's endowment built up from donations by generous benefactors including alumni of the College. This income contributes towards the provision of teaching and other services to current students. Secondly there is income from students, who pay fees and accommodation charges. Thirdly, there this income generated from activities such as conferences.

The College's Annual Reports and Financial Statements are published on the Policies and documents page of this website.

The College's finances are overseen on a day-to-day basis by the Bursar, who receives guidance from Governing Body, the Finance Committee and the Audit, Risk and Remuneration Committee. The Investment Committee sets the strategy or the management of the College endowment.

College academic and administrative salaries are paid in accordance with the University's Salary Scales.

Details of student accommodation charges and fees can be found be found on the College website.

The College sets out its charitable objectives and its latest strategy for securing them its Annual Report and Financial Accounts, located on the Policies and documents page of this website. An annual review of its operations against its charitable objectives can also be found there.

The College seeks to achieve these objectives within the framework of the collegiate University of Oxford. It does so in conjunction with the other colleges of the University by its participation in the Conference of Colleges The University’s aims, strategic plans and governance structure may be found on the University of Oxford and Conference of Colleges websites.

The College is governed by the Governing Body which is supported by a range of committees. Further information about the membership of committees can be found in the Annual Report and Financial Accounts, located on the Policies and documents page of this website. The Statutes and By-laws (located on the same website page) make provision for the appointment of key College Officers.

The College is a member of the Conference of Colleges and makes decisions in consultation with that body where relevant.

The Student Regulations and the Student Administrative Handbook, both located on the Policies and documents page of this website, contain rules and other information which affect the lives of our students.

Many of the College's policies and procedures can be found here.

The College holds registers of information required by law and other lists and registers relating to the operations of the College. Some of these  contain personal details which the College is obliged by law to keep confidential.

Information about all the following can be found on the College website:

• Admissions
• Student services, including accommodation, catering, health and welfare support, financial support, IT provision
• Chapel
• Library
• Common Rooms, clubs and societies
• News
• Information for alumni

The Information Officer of the College has overall responsibility for the publication scheme. The person responsible for maintaining and managing the scheme is the Information Officer, who is the Bursar.

Email: foi@spc.ox.ac.uk

If you have any comments about this Scheme or are not satisfied that information is being published in accordance with it, then you should contact the Information Officer in the first instance. If we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the independent body which oversees the Freedom of Information Act.

You have the right under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request any information held by a public authority which it has not already made available through its publication scheme. Requests must be made in writing and, in general, public authorities have 20 working days to respond. A fee may be charged. In accordance with Section 12 of the FOIA, the College may refuse a request where the cost of research, extracting or copying the information is disproportionately high. Repeated or vexatious requests for information will be refused.

The College is not required to release information to which an exemption in the Act legitimately applies. However, the College may be required to explain why it is not releasing information and may need to justify this decision to the Information Commissioner's Office.

The College will claim exemptions as appropriate (see some examples below) whilst maintaining a commitment to openness, scrutiny, and the public interest. We will put in place an appropriate procedure for measuring the public interest when considering a qualified (also known as “non-absolute”) exemption which requires such a test. The College reserves the right to refuse requests where the cost of locating, retrieving and editing (where necessary) the information would exceed the statutory maximum. We recognise that requests for environmental information may be made over the telephone and that different exemptions apply.

• Information accessible by other means (e.g. our College website or prospectus)
• Personal Information – this is covered by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation
• Environmental Information
• Requests can also be denied if the information is simply not held by the College; if the cost of accessing the information is above £500, or the request is considered vexatious* or repeated

(*A vexatious request one that is designed to cause inconvenience, harassment, or expense rather than to obtain information, and would require a substantial diversion of resources or undermine the work of the College)

If you require a paper version of any information or want to ask whether information is available, please contact the College.