The Freedom of Information (FoI) course aims to provide participants with everything they need to know about FoI policies, where they come from, why they are used and the importance of following them. 

 

By the end of this course, participants will understand: 

 

• What the Freedom of Information Act entails

• Subject access requests 

• Why requests may be refused 

 

The course focuses on the following: 

 

The Freedom of Information Act (2000):

An overview of the FoI act is given to course participants,  detailing how employees must be familiar with their company’s FoI policy, as it will provide them with guidance on how to comply with the law when handling FoI requests as members of the public authority. 

 

Handling subject access requests:

Participants will learn how best to handle requests in an efficient and law abiding manner, learning what makes a request legitimate and what could be cause for request denial. 

 

The Complaints Procedure:

Participants will learn about what happens when a request is denied, or not responded to and how such matters are handled. Firstly, internally between the public body and the individual who made the request, or in some instances, formally via an investigation or complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.