Access to Information Law has been a necessary part of life for UK public bodies for over ten years yet time has not made it easier to navigate the legal minefield.  Access to Information legislation is complex and we help public bodies comply with the law. 

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We assist during the full lifecycle of the request from diagnosing the request under the relevant access regime (freedom of information, environmental information, re-use of public sector information or INSPIRE request), responding to requests, handling reviews through to liaising with and making submissions to the UK and Scottish Information Commissioners during investigations. 

 

We help reduce the number of requests public bodies receive by reviewing and revising publication schemes and instilling “top down” culture change within public bodies to promote the wider availability and accessibility of information.  We clear request backlogs and manage responses to bulk requests made to a number of public bodies.  Our aim is to make your processes and procedures more cost efficient, resulting in time, financial and human resources savings.

 

Here are some examples of the types of Access to Information Law Solutions that we offer:

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• Undertaking health checks involving procedure and process testing, staff awareness surveys and records management audits to assess compliance levels and identify areas where improvements are required

• Effective receipt, logging, acknowledgement and tracking of requests

• Maintaining audit trails of searches, decision-making and reviews

• Policy and process review and developing compliant standard form documentation, including commercial contracts and information sharing protocols

• Handling requests, including initial diagnosis, clarification and classifying requests as vexatious, repeat, manifestly unreasonable or involving excessive cost of compliance

• Practical advice regarding charging for requests and assistance with calculating time estimates and developing charging schedules

• Applying exemptions and exceptions from disclosure and preparing meaningful, robust and objectively justifiable refusal notices

• Application of the public interest test

• Undertaking effective consultations with third parties before making decisions on disclosure

• Interface between Access to Information legislation and Data Protection

• Interface between Access to Information legislation and public procurement

• Handling requests for review

• Developing strategies to reduce request numbers, including revising publication schemes, actively disseminating environmental information and developing open data initiatives

• Preparing your staff and organisation for Scottish Information Commissioner and Information Commissioner investigations by conducting mock interviews and on-site inspections

• Information Commissioner and Scottish Information Commissioner investigations, including making written submissions to the Commissioners and taking action in response to decision notices