Courses take place in:

London, Manchester, Leeds and Belfast

Since the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came fully into force in 2005 there has been a fundamental change in the relationship between government and its citizens as government information has become more publicly accessible. This has led to the publication of a wide range of public sector datasets and dramatic expansion of available information. Information Officers are central to these developments and need to be fully aware of the Act and the impact of future changes to it.

This training session is designed to help those who are on the receiving end of requests for information and those who advise and assist them. The topics covered in this introductory level session include:

• an overview of the Freedom of Information Act, its structure and core provisions
• publication schemes
• handling requests including administrative exemptions and refusal notices
• an overview of the Exemptions and the public interest test
• key decisions from the Information Commissioner and the Information Tribunal
• understanding the Fees regime
• how to handle complaints
• inter-relationship with the Data Protection Act, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005

The morning consists of instruction on the legal provisions, with the afternoon featuring practical exercises and further instruction.

There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion and delegates are encouraged to bring queries and questions to the session, which will be fully interactive.

A discount is available for delegates booking both FOI Level 1 and FOI Level 2 – see below.

Attendance on this course can be used as credit towards gaining the Practitioner Certificate in Freedom of Information.