Freedom of Information caseworker

Government Recruitment Service; Manchester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A government agency in Manchester seeks a candidate to join its Ministerial Support Team. The role involves processing FOI requests, drafting clear and high-quality responses, and advising officials on FOI compliance. Applicants should excel in organization and have a supportive attitude. Successful candidates may be considered for future vacancies within the team, offering a valuable insight into government operations and policy work.

Qualifications

• Ability to draft accurate and high-quality responses to FOI requests.
• Experience in advising officials on FOI Act applications.
• Strong organizational skills to manage caseload effectively.

Responsibilities

• Process FOI requests and draft replies.
• Advise officials on the FOI Act.
• Organize and manage your caseload.

Job description

Overview

The Ministerial Support Team (MST) is responsible for providing replies to correspondence, FOI requests, government write rounds for prospective new legislation and handling enquiries and complaints.

MST is a friendly and support-focused team mostly based in London and Manchester. We help each other to get the work done. We are part of the wider ministerial private office which sits at the heart of the department. Our work is crucial to the department’s operations.

The nature of our work provides a valuable opportunity to get an insight across the span of the department’s policy work. You will also develop an understanding of how ministers work with government, stakeholders and the public, and how you can help that happen.

The team’s main responsibility is to produce high quality correspondence replies. We have a flexible attitude as we need to deliver other responsibilities including reporting performance and transferring correspondence to other departments. We pick up ad-hoc tasks like working with Number 10 on the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games.

DCMS receives a wide variety of requests under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 for information related to policy and operational matters. We work closely with ministerial private offices and policy colleagues to deliver high quality FOI responses on behalf of the department.

Responsibilities

You will process FOI requests and will be required to draft accurate, plain English and high quality responses. Your responsibilities will include:

• Advising officials and ministers on how the FOI Act applies to them
• Drafting timely and high quality responses to FOI requests
• Organising and managing your caseload and making decisions on when to follow up on issues yourself or when to escalate to your manager
• Establishing and maintaining relationships across the organisation
• Taking on other ad-hoc tasks as required
• Contributing to the overall running of the wider team, including taking responsibility for things like correspondence

We are also interested in identifying candidates for future vacancies within the Ministerial Support Team. Therefore, for suitable candidates, you may be offered a similar position within the team or added to a reserve list for future vacancies.