WEST of SCOTLAND
ARCHAEOLOGYSERVICEWest of Scotland Archaeology ServiceAccess to Information and Charging Policy
This policy statement sets out the framework and guidelines for access to information
held by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service and to information contained in
the West of Scotland Historic Environment Record (HER). It also sets out the level
and circumstances of charges which will be levied by the West of Scotland
Archaeology Service for the provision of HER information and/or curatorialarchaeological advice. The policy was reviewed and approved by the West ofScotland Archaeology Service Joint Committee on 25 February 2021.
Access to Information
The West of Scotland Archaeology Service Joint Committee is fully committed totransparency in its dealings with the public and fully embraces the aims of theFreedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, the Environmental Information(Scotland) Regulations 2004, the INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009, and theaccess provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data
Protection Act 2018. The Joint Committee will make every effort to meet its
obligations under the respective legislation and will regularly review procedures toensure that it is doing so.
Data Protection Act 2018
A right of access to inspect personal information held in a computerised system has
existed since the Data Protection Act 1998 came into force. The Data Protection Act
2018 replaced the former Data Protection Act 1998 and gives additional rights toindividuals about whom information is held and processed. The Act places
obligations on those who record and use personal data to be open about that use
and to follow sound and proper practices. The West of Scotland Archaeology Service
does not seek to collect or hold data of a personal nature within its records.
Within the terms of the Act, we hold and process normal category personal data suchas names, email addresses, postal addresses and/or telephone numbers in relation
to enquiries made to the Service, or when new historic environment information isprovided to the Service for inclusion in the Historic Environment Record.
We process any personal information provided in order to answer the questions
asked, or in order to provide relevant contact details if the enquiry needs to beredirected.

The Archaeology Service of the Councils of Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, EastRenfrewshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, WestDunbartonshire and West Lothian, and of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

If you have any queries or concerns about personal data which may be held by theService, please contact the Manager of the Service on 0141 287 8332 or the Historic
Environment Record Officer on 0141 287 8333.
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
The West of Scotland Archaeology Service Joint Committee supports the principlethat the public has right of access to information held by the West of Scotland
Archaeology Service. The Committee seeks to promote an open regime regarding
access to information, subject to any exemptions contained within the legislation.
Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
The Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004 gives the public the rightto request environmental information. Following the Scottish Government guidanceon what is covered by the Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004,
issued to local authorities in 2005 (Paper 2005/21), the Joint Committee considers
the West of Scotland Historic Environment Record to be a body of information
covered by these Regulations. All enquiries for Historic Environment Record
information will therefore be treated as falling under the Environmental InformationRegulations (Scotland) 2004. Under these Regulations the Joint Committee may levy
a reasonable charge for the provision of information, reflected in the fee charge
policy set out below.
INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009
The purpose of the INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009 is to create a Europe-wide
electronic network of spatial information which is accessible to the public. "Spatialinformation" is information which has a geographical reference. Following theScottish Government guidance on the obligations created by INSPIRE (Scotland)
Regulations 2009, issued to local authorities in March 2011 (A Guide to the INSPIRE(Scotland) Regulations 2009 SSI/2009/440), the Joint Committee considers theWest of Scotland Historic Environment Record to include spatial information to whichthese Regulations apply. All relevant spatial datasets within the Historic Environment
Record will conform to the requirements of the Regulations.

The Archaeology Service of the Councils of Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, EastRenfrewshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, WestDunbartonshire and West Lothian, and of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

Access to Sites and Monuments Record Information
There is no general physical access to the West of Scotland Historic Environment
Record for the public to conduct their own HER searches, as the building whichhouses the Record is unsuitable for such access. It may occasionally be possible byprior appointment to speak to one of the West of Scotland Archaeology Service team,or to view archaeological information in the Service’s office. To contact the Service tomake an appointment please write, telephone, or email, using the contact details at
the end of this policy statement.
Enquiries to the Historic Environment Record by post, telephone, or email are
welcomed. Historic Environment Record data is also published via a number ofonline search engines as follows:
http://gis.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/mapsWosas/mapSMR.htm(WoSAS’s own map enabled search)
http://www.wosas.net/search.php(WoSAS’s online database search)
http://jura.rcahms.gov.uk/PASTMAP/start.jsp(Scottish Ministers’ map enabled search)
The recommended source for online searches of the HER is the first of these,
WoSAS’s own map enabled search. The online HER data is provided for public
search free of charge.
Copies of archived reports of archaeological fieldwork, which have been submitted tothe HER, will be made available to the public on request, subject to the charges setout below. Users of such supplied report(s) are reminded that the report(s) remain
the copyright of the author(s) and supply of a copy (or copies) of a report (or reports)by the HER does not entitle the user to infringe this copyright.

The Archaeology Service of the Councils of Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, EastRenfrewshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, WestDunbartonshire and West Lothian, and of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

Charges for Time to Supply Information and/or Curatorial Advice
At the discretion of the Archaeology Service Manager archaeological information
and/or curatorial archaeological advice will be supplied free of charge to students,
genuine researchers, and members of the public within reasonable limits. TheService reserves the right to decline to process excessively complex or poorlystructured enquiries. At the discretion of the Archaeology Service Manager, there
may be a charge for unusual materials, or postage and packing for supply ofinformation. Photocopies or offprints may be charged at the cost of 10p per sheet.
The Archaeology Service will impose a charge for the time expended to meet allcommercial requests for information and/or curatorial advice. This is intended toreflect the cost of staff time in carrying out the task, related overheads such as themaintenance of the computer systems, compensation for time lost to other functions,and the cost to the Archaeology Service of providing the service. Charges may bewaived at the discretion of the Archaeology Service Manager. Estimates of likely
costs for individual commercial enquiries will be supplied on request, and before any
costs have been incurred.
Provision of digital extracts from the Historic Environment Record to professionalarchaeological consultants acting for commercial clients will incur a charge of £100
per hour, or part-hour spent in their preparation, where such extracts are requested
to facilitate the preparation of a commercial desk based assessment or any othercommercial assessment. Alternatively the consultant may access the required HER
information entirely free of charge via the WoSAS online map enabled HER search at
http://gis.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/mapsWosas/mapSMR.htm.
The charge for staff time spent in providing information, detailed curatorial advice, orany other assistance, in respect of commercial requests and enquiries will be £100
per hour, or part of hour, from 1 April 2015 until further notice. In the event that a site
visit is required on behalf of the enquirer, mileage and subsistence at local
government rates will be charged in addition. At the discretion of the Archaeology
Service Manager, there may be a charge for unusual materials, or postage andpacking for supply of information. Photocopies or offprints may be charged at thecost of 10p per sheet.
The Archaeology Service can provide curatorial advice to commercial developers
and their agents regarding the preparation of documentation which may be required
to address archaeological issues arising from their proposals. The advice on thescope of work and the format and content of the required supporting information andproject design documents is intended to provide advance validation of the documents
to facilitate their speedy approval by the planning authority or any other relevant
regulatory authority. In order to allow reasonable financial planning by commercial
bodies, and to avoid time-related charges growing unpredictably, the charge incurred
for the iterative process of assessing, commenting on, and agreeing project design
documents will be based on the form of document to be considered and the size ofthe proposed development application area.

The Archaeology Service of the Councils of Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, EastRenfrewshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, WestDunbartonshire and West Lothian, and of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

Developers and agents not wishing to take advantage of this assessment and advice
service remain free to submit their preferred draft of the required documentation tothe planning authority for approval. Comments on the suitability, or otherwise, ofsubmitted documentation which has not been assessed and agreed in advance with
the Archaeology Service will be provided to the planning authority at their request.

Service provided

Proposed Charge

Digital HER extract£100 + VAT/hourPre-appl. Advice to developer/agent£100 + VAT/hour

Validation of developer’s submitted:•

Desk-based Assessment (DBA)
All sizes•

Watching Brief Method Statement (MS)All sizes••£100 + VAT£100 + VATWritten Scheme of Investigation (WSI)
0.5ha or less£100 + VAT

0.5ha – 10ha

£200 + VAT

10ha and above£500 + VAT

Archaeological Mitigation Strategy (AMS)
Major & multi-phase applications£500 + VAT

Payment is to be made on receipt of an invoice from Glasgow City Council on behalfof the Archaeology Service.

The Archaeology Service of the Councils of Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, EastRenfrewshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, WestDunbartonshire and West Lothian, and of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

Guidelines for Access to Historic Environment Record Information
The West of Scotland Archaeology Service works to time performance requirements
set by its Joint Committee. This requires 80% of responses to be made to enquirers
within a 21 day calendar period. In practice many HER enquiries are handled within amuch shorter time and typically responses are made within a week. If enquirers
require a more urgent response, they should make this clear on making their enquiry.
Although every reasonable effort is made to verify information contained within theHER database, the database is compiled from a variety of often-unchecked sources.
Unchecked information cannot be seen as definitive. Therefore, the West of Scotland
Archaeology Service does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of any HER
Information supplied by it. The user of HER Information accepts that, except in any
matter where it is not possible in law to exclude or limit liability, the West of Scotland
Archaeology Service accepts no liability whether for direct, indirect, consequential orincidental damages or losses arising from the use of HER Information.
Digital extracts of HER data will only be provided to professional archaeologicalorganisations or bodies capable of handling unmediated archaeological data. Suchextracts will have an expiry time of 6 months beyond which time they will no longer
be valid.
The boundaries of Scheduled Monuments shown on any maps provided by the HER
have been derived from digital data supplied by Historic Scotland and are intended toact as a guide only. For definitive information on Scheduled Monuments the enquirer
should contact Historic Scotland.
The whole of the copyright and all other intellectual property rights throughout theworld for the whole of the term of such copyright in the HER Information is held by
the West of Scotland Archaeology Service. Dissemination to a third party of the HER
Information without the written consent of the Archaeology Service shall be deemeda breach of that copyright. HER Information supplied to an enquirer shall not beretained after the specific use for which it was requested has finished. Where specificconsent under the copyright provisions governing the HER has been obtained fordissemination of HER Information to third parties through publications, reports ortheses, due acknowledgement of the use of HER Information will be given.
Users of HER data will be expected to inform the HER of new sites or information
which comes to light as a result of their research. Copies of, or access to, thecompleted research should be made available to the HER within 6 months ofcompletion.
The Historic Environment Record may be contacted as follows:West of Scotland
Archaeology Service231 George Street
Glasgow
G1 1RX

Tel: 0141 287 8333
Email: enquiries@wosas.glasgow.gov.uk
Web: http://www.wosas.net

The Archaeology Service of the Councils of Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, EastRenfrewshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, WestDunbartonshire and West Lothian, and of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.