With apologies for cross-posting.

Forwarded on behalf of the JISC Legal Information Service

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Freedom of Information - The Road to Compliance: 1st January 2005 and Beyond
Monday 29 March 2004, Avon Gorge Hotel, Bristol

Brief description
Your institution should by the date of this event have achieved the first
stage of compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in terms of the
requirement to have in place a fully operational Publication Scheme. However
more work remains to be done.

What are the next steps institutions need to consider to achieve full
compliance with the legislation, which comes into full effect on 1st January
2005, and to ensure compliance on an ongoing basis beyond that date? How
advanced is your institutional Records Management and can it cope with FOI?
The seminar will highlight the issues and make recommendations.

The seminar will also highlight the continuing obligations with regard to
the Publication Scheme and will focus on the requirements regarding Requests
for information, which you may receive after 2005. Throughout the day,
possible courses of action will be put forward and the experiences of others
in implementing FOI will be drawn on.

Who it is aimed at?
* Registrars, pro-Vice Chancellors and other senior managers
responsible for legal compliance
* Senior managers responsible for information strategies
* Central services staff with responsibility for Freedom of Information,
Data Protection, and Records Management

Booking Form - http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/events/jlis.html

Draft programme
09.30-10.00     Registration and coffee
10.00-10.10     J-LIS general introduction and housekeeping
10.10-10.35     Preparing for Compliance: Implementation of your Publication
                Scheme.  Where colleges have reached on compliance;
                what has been difficult; how are colleges handling the
                maintenance of the scheme and requests under the scheme.
10.35-11.00     Preparing for Compliance: Requests and legal compliance. Duties
                and sanctions under the Act on request handling after
                2005. Complaints process.
11.00-11.30     Preparing for Compliance: Request handling. Planning your
                request handling, model request forms and institutional
                approaches to consider.
11.30-11.50     Discussion session
11.50-12.05     Coffee
12.05-12 30     Preparing for Compliance: Records Management: An overview of the
                issues. Benefits of introducing Records Management and
                a Records Manager to your institution.
12.30-12.55     Preparing for Compliance: Records Management. Discussion of the
                Model Action Plan (MAP) as best practice but discussion
                of how a less well resourced institution could perhaps
                apply some of the key points of the MAP.
12.55-1315      Discussion session
13.15-14.15     Lunch
14.15-14.45     Preparing for Compliance: Training and awareness. Ireland has
                had Freedom of Information legislation since 1997. The
                speaker will relate the experience in implementing the
                Act and will explain an institutions approach to staff
                training and awareness raising.
14.45-15.15     Preparing for Compliance: The right to know.  Public
                expectations; who will make requests to FE and HE what
                type of request; what implications for the sector and
                its press offices, and its business and research links.
15.15-15.35     Discussion session
15.35 -16.00    Coffee and close

Special Note: Speakers for all sessions will be confirmed as soon as
possible.




----------------------
Steve Bailey,
Records Manager
Joint Information Systems Committee
Tel: 07092 302850
Email: [log in to unmask]