Information Governance Practitioner (FOI)

Overview

Are you motivated by transparency, fairness, and the responsible use of information? This is an excellent opportunity to join a supportive and specialist team where your work will directly support the Council’s commitment to openness and accountability.

As an Information Governance Practitioner (FOI), you will play a key role in ensuring the Council meets its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations, delivering high-quality, timely and well-reasoned responses to information requests.

This role is well suited to someone who enjoys analytical thinking, problem-solving and working collaboratively across services, and who is confident applying legislation to real-world situations.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.  

About the role

This is a dedicated FOI practitioner role, focused on the end-to-end delivery of FOI and EIR casework. You will manage your own caseload, making sound and defensible decisions, and ensuring statutory timescales and quality standards are consistently met.

You’ll work closely with services across the Council to locate and review information, provide clear advice, and support improvements in how information is recorded, retrieved and disclosed. A key aspect of the role is communicating FOI requirements clearly and confidently to colleagues at all levels, including designing and delivering FOI training and awareness activity.

While the primary focus of the role is FOI and EIR, there is some overlap with data protection work. The postholder will be expected

to have a good understanding of data protection principles and may be required to support the data protection team with casework when needed.

Key elements of the role include:

• Managing FOI and EIR requests from receipt to completion, including complex and sensitive cases.
• Interpreting FOI and EIR legislation, applying exemptions and exceptions, and producing clear, defensible decisions.
• Engaging with services across the Council to identify, retrieve and analyse information relevant to requests.
• Providing clear, practical advice and guidance to officers and members of the public on FOI and EIR matters.
• Managing internal reviews, complaints and escalations related to FOI and EIR responses.
• Preparing high-quality written replies, decision notices, summaries and reports suitable for audit or ICO scrutiny.
• Using case management systems to log, track and manage FOI/EIR cases accurately and consistently.
• Confidently using operational and case management systems and SharePoint to locate, retrieve, download, review, combine and convert information held across service areas.
• Designing and delivering FOI training, briefings and awareness sessions for colleagues across the Council.
• Contributing to FOI guidance, templates, internal communications, learning materials and service improvements.
• Supporting joint working with data protection colleagues and assisting with data protection casework when required.

About you

You’ll bring strong practical experience of FOI work and a confident, balanced approach to applying legislation. You’ll be comfortable working independently, managing statutory deadlines and communicating clearly with a wide range of stakeholders.

You’ll thrive in this role if you are:

• A clear and confident communicator, able to explain complex FOI or technical issues in plain language.
• Credible and assured when working with colleagues at all levels of the organisation, including senior officers.
• Highly organised and detail-focused, with the ability to juggle multiple deadlines and competing priorities.
• Analytical and evidence-based, with confidence challenging assumptions and inconsistencies where appropriate.
• Comfortable delivering training or briefings and responding to questions clearly and confidently.

You will also have:

• Substantial hands-on experience managing FOI and EIR casework in a public sector or similar environment.
• Strong working knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations and relevant ICO guidance.
• Experience applying exemptions and exceptions, including public interest tests.
• Experience handling internal reviews, complaints or ICO-related correspondence.
• A sound understanding of data protection principles.
• Data protection case work experience is desirable, as the role may involve supporting the data protection team where there is overlap or operational need.
• Strong technical skills, with the ability to locate, retrieve and manage information across multiple systems accurately and efficiently.
• Experience using case management systems to manage statutory casework and maintain clear, defensible records.
• Confidence working with digital documents, including combining files, creating PDFs and applying appropriate redactions.
• A working knowledge of SharePoint or similar document management systems.
• NVQ Level 3 / HNC (or equivalent) as a minimum.
• The ability to converse effectively with the public in spoken English.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about the role, please contact: Amy Roscoe at [email protected]

Closing date: Midnight on Sunday 3rd May

Interview date: to be confirmed

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

a fair and inclusive culture

• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

 

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/