Freedom of Information Officer

Our local authority client based in South London are urgently seeking an experienced Freedom of Information Officer.

-22.14 an hour PAYE-

Main Purpose of the job:

• To work flexibly across the planning service to provide in-depth technical and administrative support, with a primary focus on:
• Handling, monitoring and coordinating planning service complaints (including logging, tracking, performance reporting and quality assurance of responses)
• Coordinating and responding to Freedom of Information (FOI) and related information requests (including collation, redaction support and deadline management)
• Finance support including income monitoring, cost recovery, debt chasing and reconciliations; producing management information and reports
• Maintaining accurate records across relevant planning systems to support effective casework, complaints and information governance processes,

Summary of Responsibilities and Personal Duties:

1. To manage the end-to-end administration of planning service complaints, including logging/acknowledgement, tracking deadlines, coordinating input from service areas, quality-checking draft responses and ensuring replies are issued within required timescales.
2. To coordinate and respond to FOI, EIR and related information requests for the Planning Service, including liaising with officers to gather information, maintaining a clear audit trail, supporting redaction where required, and monitoring performance against statutory deadlines.
3. To support financial administration for the Planning Service, including income monitoring, cost recovery, raising purchase orders, receipting invoices, chasing debt where appropriate, and producing regular reconciliations and management information.
4. To undertake redaction of complex and sensitive documents to support complaints handling and information requests, ensuring personal data and legally privileged information is removed in line with GDPR, relevant exemptions and Council policies prior to disclosure.
5. To provide flexible technical support to the wider Planning Service (including validation and consultation on complex planning and related applications where necessary) to help maintain service standards and performance targets.
6. To proactively monitor and report on service performance for complaints, FOI/EIR and key customer enquiries, including maintaining trackers, producing regular management reports and identifying trends and improvement actions.

Please apply with your updated CV ensuring that any gaps in employment are explained.

At this point, may we take this opportunity to thank you for the interest you have shown in this role. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications that we receive, it is not always possible to respond to everyone. Therefore, unless you hear from us within the next 7 days, your application for this vacancy will have been unsuccessful.