Half day training course delivered in London, Leeds and Manchester.

£198.00 (£165 + VAT)

This course will give you a thorough grounding in the spirit and letter of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and what it means for organisations that have a statutoty duty to respond to information requests.

As well as giving you good knowledge of The FOI Act overall, it also focuses on key elements of good practice that are critically important to get right, including the application of exemptions and the distinction between class and prejudiced based reasons with withhold information.

Through a combination of presentations, exercises, group work and Q&A sessions this course will give you practical, applicable tools and information that you can use to ensure your organisation is ont only compliant with the Act, but in a way that enhances its relationships with key stakeholders.

The focus of the course is very much on giving you resources and support, rather than a purely legal or academic understanding of the Act, but also brings freedom of information to life and impress on all attendees its value to any organisation that wishes to achieve future success.

Alongside gaining insight into the importance of freedom of information and its role as an enabler of organisations success, you will also gain from an intensive grounding in both the letter and sprit of the Freedom of Information Act. Alongside this you will develop practical knowledge, tips and resources you can apply immediately in your work.

We will work with you to ensure we understand your learning needs and objectives and ensure the course is tailored to cover these in the required depth. As part of this you will gain access to pre-course reading and materials to help you prepare for your course and give you the opportunity to plan your learning around your busy schedule.

As part of your training you will also be able to connect with a community of peers – professionals like you, and benefit post-course from ongoing support from our expert trainers to help you ensure your organisations is fully compliant with its statutory duties.

This course covers:

the significance and spirit of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act;
how to develop and implement effective FOI systems and processes;
interpreting and applying exemptions to disclosure;
the difference between class based and prejudice based exemptions;
the public interest test;
developing an effective publication scheme, and how useful that can be;
key concepts such as dealing with vexatious requests.
an introduction to Environmental Impact Regulations