Job Details
Job title: FOI Officer
Salary/Grade: Grade 3 £32,319 - £36,900
Service: People and Performance
Reports to: Senior Performance and Information Officer
Manages/ Supervises: n/a
Job purpose
To process the Council’s response to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), ensuring timely, accurate and legally compliant disclosures. The postholder will also support services by providing guidance and training, monitor performance against statutory deadlines, and support continuous improvement in access to information.
Principal Accountabilities
- Receive, assess, and co-ordinate Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests, in line with the Councils procedures and case management system, ensuring they are handled within statutory timescales.
- Act as a point of contact for FOI and EIR enquiries, liaising with requesters, internal officers and services, and external stakeholders where appropriate to ensure requests are clearly understood and progressed effectively.
- Work proactively with services across the Council to identify, gather, review and verify information required to respond to requests, ensuring responses are accurate, complete, clear and issued within statutory deadlines.
- Review information prior to disclosure, identifying material that may require redaction or further consideration.
- Liaise with the Governance Team where advice is required on exemptions, exceptions, personal data, confidentiality, commercial sensitivity or public interest considerations.
- Prepare clear, professional and robust response correspondence, ensuring complex information and legislative reasoning is explained in a way that is accessible and appropriate for the requester.
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of FOI and EIR requests, decisions, deadlines, correspondence, redactions and disclosures using the Council’s case management system.
- Monitor the progress of requests, manage competing deadlines and escalate risks, delays, complex issues or sensitive matters promptly to the Senior Performance and Information Officer and/or Governance Team as appropriate.
- Provide practical advice, guidance and support to colleagues across the Council on FOI and EIR requirements, helping services to understand their responsibilities to enable them to respond effectively.
- Support the development and delivery of training, guidance materials and awareness-raising activity to improve organisational understanding of FOI/EIR obligations and good information handling practice.
- Monitor and report on FOI and EIR performance, including volumes, timeliness, themes, risks and areas for improvement.
- Support the maintenance and review of the Council’s publication scheme and relevant website information, ensuring information is accurate, accessible and kept under review in line with statutory requirements.
- Maintain awareness of relevant legislation, Information Commissioner’s Office guidance and good practice relating to FOI, EIR, data protection and transparency.
- Handle information appropriately and securely, ensuring compliance with UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, FOI, EIR and the Council’s policies and procedures.
Corporate Accountabilities
- To take responsibility for maintaining own health and attendance.
To support, contribute and comply with quality and governance procedures as directed by management. - To apply and actively promote the principles of the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy in all areas of employment and service delivery.
- To apply and actively promote the principles of the Council’s Safeguarding Procedure in all areas of employment and service delivery.
- Any other duties as required to support the business, including maintaining business continuity and during civil emergencies. All staff may on occasions be called upon to support the Council to deal with emergency situations affecting the community we serve. In the event of an emergency or a rehearsal for such an event, you may be required to attend at times and at locations outside of the normal hours and duties of the post and to adopt duties directed by the Chief Executive or their nominated representative for the duration of the emergency.
- To advise Line manager if, at any time, the above duties and responsibilities cannot be performed.
Skills, Knowledge and Experience
(Tested at application and interview stage)
Experience and Qualifications
- Practitioner Certificate in FOI/EIR desirable but not essential
- Experience in handling, coordinating or supporting FOI/EIR requests or information governance or similar statutory/regulatory processes.
- Experience of working within a local authority, wider public sector or regulated environment.
- Experience of working with multiple stakeholders to obtain information, provide guidance and support on FOI/EIR matters
Skills and Knowledge
- Good working knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and their application
- Good awareness of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
- Ability to interpret and apply FOI or EIR legislation to requests
- Strong written communication skills with the ability to draft clear, accurate and professional responses for a range of audiences.
- Strong verbal communication and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to engage constructively with colleagues across services and explain FOI/EIR requirements in practical terms.
- High level of accuracy and attention to detail, particularly when reviewing information, checking records, applying redactions and preparing formal responses.
- Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage a varied caseload, competing priorities and statutory deadlines.
- Excellent understanding of record management including retention and disposal of records.
- Ability to analyse information from a range of sources, identify key issues and make well-reasoned recommendations or decisions.
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team while also managing own workload independently.
- Competent in Microsoft Office, case management systems and digital tools, with an aptitude for learning new systems.
Competencies
We test this at interview stage
Communicating Effectively
Demonstrate the effective use of the range of communication methods available: written, spoken, electronic, and use these methods in appropriate ways suitable to the context and situation
- Present spoken communication in a polite, friendly and respectful manner seeking to ensure mutual understanding
- Listen well and seek clarification and understanding, avoiding jumping to conclusions or making assumptions
- Present information and ideas in a clear and understandable way which avoids jargon
- Seek to understand the communication needs of colleagues and customers, being mindful of equality issues and the diverse needs of the range of people we work with
- Choose the most appropriate method of communication for the situation, seeking to avoid using one fixed style or approach
Performing efficiently and effectively
Promote good performance, developing clear, structured and efficient ways of managing workload and delivering results. Staff should challenge themselves and others to perform well, and to adhere to the Council’s performance management systems
- Ensure that all work carried out by you is in line with business and service plans and supports the overall aims and ambition of the Council
- Plan your workload effectively, reporting achievements and problems to appropriate managers and project leaders
- See tasks and objectives through to completion
- Approach challenges with drive and enthusiasm
- Strive for continuous improvement in your work and manage your learning and development to enable you to perform to the best of your ability
- Create novel solutions to improve services and ways of working and challenge conventional practices
- Seek out income generating opportunities and efficiencies and aim to provide more for less to achieve the best possible value and high standards of service delivery
- Be enthusiastic about the Council’s services and look for opportunities to promote and sell them.
Using and managing resources efficiently and effectively
Demonstrate the effective and efficient use of the full range of resources used in and by the Council including time, finances, staffing, equipment, information, materials, buildings, etc.
- Take responsibility for managing your time, seeking efficient ways to carry out your work, maximising your output and minimising wastage
- Use and acquire materials effectively and efficiently minimising wastage, recycling where possible, and striving for cost effectiveness
- Seek out ways to improve the use of resources
Engaging with the customer
Understand the needs and requirements of their customers, to provide excellent customer service, and to involve customers in the improvement of services
- Provide a helpful and friendly service to customers, both internally and externally
- Take responsibility for following up on enquiries and solving customer issues
- Make efforts to fully understand the customer’s needs and avoid assuming that “we know best”
- Ensure that you have a full understanding of the needs and requirements of the customer
- Seek feedback from internal and external customers on the effectiveness and efficiency of the service you provide
Working well together
Actively foster good working relationships with colleagues and customers in order to collectively achieve the Council’s direction and ambition
- Co-operate and work well with colleagues at all levels of the organisation, seeking collective responsibility for the achievement of goals
- Demonstrate consideration and respect for other’s feelings and opinions and avoid judging and making assumptions
- Maintain positive working relationships with external contacts in order to maintain the reputation of the Council
- Seek to actively solve problems and avoid passing the issue on to others or leaving the problem unresolved
- Demonstrate self-awareness of your style of working and develop flexibility and adaptability in order to work well with others
Other conditions
- This post doesn't require a DBS check
- This post isn't politically restricted
Job profile updated
September 2026
Values and behaviours
Our values and behaviours are an integral part of who we are; they are the guiding principles that should inform how we work together, support each other and make decisions.
Our organisation thrives on the dedication and passion of its people and it’s important that we embody these values and behaviours and they become a part of our organisational DNA.
Our vision
We will be ambitious, support each other and work together in new ways to achieve outstanding results
Our core values
We value everyone
- We respect, recognise and support our people, residents and businesses
- We listen to each other, understand and treat everyone fairly
- We care about our people and appreciate the unique qualities in us all
We work together
- We respect, recognise and support our people, residents and businesses
- We work as one team, recognising everyone's contribution
- We build strong relationships and partnerships to deliver better outcomes
We are flexible
- We embrace change and new ways of working
- We are adaptable, open to new ideas and focus on solutions
- We aim to constantly improve, and we are not afraid to challenge the status quo
