Request a demo

FOI Works

Building on a decade of experience in making Freedom of Information straightforward for citizens, we created a service that minimises duplicates, diverts poorly-grounded requests and helps authorities.

Developed in collaboration with Hackney Council, FOI Works is a user-needs focused solution to streamlining authorities’ FOI workflows.

It reduces the volume of requests your staff have to process, by providing a user-centred FOI request workflow that intelligently leverages already published information.

Request a demo

Available as a standalone service or as part of the SocietyWorks suite, FOI Works currently integrates with the Infreemation, iCasework and IDOX FOI case management services as an end-to-end open source case management solution.

  • A simple interface for citizens, building trust and reducing customer support time.
  • Intelligent suggestions from the disclosure log and custom links help reduce time wasted on Section 21 “information already available” responses.
  • Integration with your case management system allocates a reference number to the citizen immediately.
  • Disclosure Log integration resurfaces past responses, helping you to get more value out of your officers’ past work.
  • The system becomes more effective as more responses are added to the disclosure log.
  • Built-in analytics provide feedback on which curated links are most effective at reducing duplication.
  • Hosted open source software, following the Government Digital Service Standard.

Benefits for councils

We worked closely with Hackney Council to understand the challenges faced by Information Officers, and the untapped value in channel-shifting more FOI requests into a fully integrated, automated solution.

End-to-end integration

FOI requests are sent straight through to your case management system, like IDOX or Infreemation. Say goodbye to manual copying and pasting!

Get value out of your responses

Answers to FOI requests that have been published to your Disclosure Log are automatically fed to citizens as suggested resolutions.

Built-in analytics

Instantly see which suggestions are most popular, and which are helping to reduce the number of new requests.

Reduced duplicates

The suggestion system helps redirect citizens to existing material before they make a request.

Hand-picked suggestions

Links to existing information (such as pages on the council website) can also be curated by Information Officers to feed suggestions.

Government Service Standard

FOI Works was built from the ground up to meet the Government Digital Service Standard, including WCAG AA accessibility.

Find FOI Works on G-Cloud

In depth: See what FOI Works is doing for Hackney Council.

Schedule your one-to-one demo

Request a callback

SocietyWorks Ltd (05798215) is a wholly owned subsidiary of mySociety, a registered charity in England and Wales (1076346) and limited company (03277032).