FOI & SAR register
For the helpdesk teamFOI / SAR / EIR register
Section titled “FOI / SAR / EIR register”Schools and trusts receive several kinds of information-rights request:
- FOI — Freedom of Information Act requests (general info about the trust).
- EIR — Environmental Information Regulations (estates, sustainability, energy).
- SAR — Subject Access Requests under UK GDPR Article 15 (personal data about the requester).
This register handles all three with a shared workflow and per-type statutory deadlines.
What’s on a request
Section titled “What’s on a request”- Request type — foi / sar / eir.
- Reference — auto-assigned per workspace, e.g.
FOI-2026-014. - Received on — date you logged the request.
- Due by — auto-calculated from
received_on+ the type’s statutory window (FOI: 20 working days, SAR: one month, EIR: 20 working days). Override if the law allows extension (e.g. a complex SAR can be extended to 3 months). - Requester name + contact — who asked.
- Subject — short summary.
- Body — the full request text.
- Status — open, acknowledged, information_gathered, clarification_needed, response_sent, refused, closed.
- Handler — internal owner.
- Outcome — final disposition. Granted in full, partial, refused (with exemption reason).
The index
Section titled “The index”Sort: by status (open requests first), then by due_by. The clerk’s morning sweep starts at the top — anything past due_by is a regulatory breach.
Filter by type to pull just FOIs, just SARs, etc.
When to refuse and how
Section titled “When to refuse and how”UK FOIA allows refusal under specific exemptions (Section 12, 14, 21-44). When you refuse, set status to refused and pick the exemption section. The system doesn’t enforce which sections are valid for which type — that’s a legal judgement, not a data validation.
Gotchas
Section titled “Gotchas”- Working days vs calendar days: FOI is working days. SAR is calendar (one month). EIR is working days. The auto-calculation handles this — don’t override
due_bywithout re-checking. - A complex SAR can be extended to 3 months total under Article 12(3). Document the extension reason in the body.
- Closed is the right state when the requester abandons or the request is otherwise resolved without a formal refusal. Refused is when you decline and apply an exemption. Response_sent marks that a substantive reply has been issued. Don’t mix them.