Self-Assessment Toolkit

Welcome to the Commissioner's self-assessment toolkit. Here we publish resources to help authorities to:

Capture current activity and practice
Assess how well they are performing against a set of standards
Improve their FOI practices, procedures and administrative arrangements

Getting started with the toolkit

Read our essential guide to completing any of our self-assessment toolkit modules:

Toolkit modules

The toolkit modules are each made up of two documents:

Standards and Criteria - introduction to the specific module, expected outcomes and legal context, characteristics of good practice, ratings and evaluation criteria.

Assessment Questions and Evidence Grid - a workbook of questions, specific to the module, with sections to record evidence, strengths and areas for improvement.

There are additional support materials with each module. Click on the module name below to go to the module resources.

Module number	Module name	Outcomes you can expect from the module
1	Module 1: Responding on time	Improved compliance with FOI timescales, reduced risk of reviews and appeals, greater public trust in your authority.
2	Module 2: Searching for, locating and retrieving information	Greater accountability within the authority, more user-focused records management, more satisfied requesters.
3	Module 3: Advice and assistance	Better relationships with requesters, fewer confusing requests and reduced risk of reviews and appeals.
4	Module 4: Publishing information	Reduce the work involved in responding to requests, better relationships with stakeholders, demonstrating transparency.
5	Module 5: Conduct of reviews	Efficiencies in handling requests and reviews, increased trust by requesters, lessons learned for future requests.
6	Module 6: Monitoring and managing FOI performance	Analysing statistics, identifying trends, resolving issues, strengthening governance and improving communication