The Freedom of Information Officer's Handbook
eBook - PDF

The Freedom of Information Officer's Handbook

  1. 224 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Freedom of Information Officer's Handbook

About this book

Freedom of information (FOI) is now an international phenomenon with over 100 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe enacting the right to know for their citizens. Since 2005, the UK's Freedom of Information Act has opened up thousands of public bodies to unparalleled scrutiny and prompted further moves to transparency.

Wherever the right to know is introduced, its success depends on the way it is implemented. In organisations worldwide, FOI only works because of those who oversee its operation on a day-to-day basis, promoting openness, processing requests and advising colleagues and the public. FOI is dependent on the FOI Officers.

The Freedom of Information Officer's Handbook is a comprehensive guide to FOI and its management. It is designed to be an indispensable tool for FOI Officers and their colleagues. It includes:

  • a guide to the UK's FOI Act, the right to know and the exemptions
  • clear analysis of the most important case law and its implications for the handling of FOI requests
  • pointers to the best resources to help FOI officers in their work
  • explanations of how FOI interacts with other legislation, including detailed explorations of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and how the EU's General Data Protection Regulation impacts on FOI
  • a look at requirements to proactively publish information and the effect of copyright and re-use laws on FOI and open data
  • comparisons of the UK's Act with FOI legislation in other jurisdictions from Scotland to South Africa
  • an exploration of the role of the FOI Officer: who they are, what they do, their career development and what makes them effective
  • suggestions on how to embed FOI within an organisation using effective procedures, technology and training
  • a stage-by-stage guide to processing requests for information.

The Freedom of Information Officers' Handbook includes the latest developments in FOI including amendments made to the UK's FOI Act by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the revised s.45 code of practice published by the Cabinet Office in July 2018.

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Yes, you can access The Freedom of Information Officer's Handbook by Paul Gibbons in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Library & Information Science. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Title page
  2. Contents
  3. Part 1 Understanding FOI
  4. Chapter 1 A brief history of freedom of information
  5. Chapter 2 Understanding the Act
  6. Chapter 3 The exemptions in the FOIA
  7. Chapter 4 The FOI officer’s toolkit
  8. Part 2 FOI in context
  9. Chapter 5 The Environmental Information Regulations
  10. Chapter 6 The FOIA, personal information and the GDPR
  11. Chapter 7 Records and archives
  12. Chapter 8 Publication schemes and proactive disclosure
  13. Chapter 9 Copyright and re-use of information
  14. Part 3 FOI in practice
  15. Chapter 10 The FOI officer
  16. Chapter 11 Embedding FOI
  17. Chapter 12 Managing FOI requests
  18. Chapter 13 Communicating with applicants
  19. Chapter 14 Internal reviews and appeals
  20. Appendix 1 Methodology of the 2017 council survey on the administration of FOI requests
  21. Appendix 2 FOI response templates
  22. Appendix 3 Privacy notice for FOI requests
  23. Notes
  24. Index