Act Now Training is pleased to report that it has completed another successful year of delivering the Practitioner Certificate in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Now in its fourth year the course is the only certificated FOI course specifically designed for Scottish delegates.
Two courses were delivered in 2016 with 22 very strong candidates from a variety of backgrounds including the local government, education, health, government and regulatory sectors. All the delegates passed the course. Of these 3 achieved a distinction and 14 achieved a merit. The delegate feedback has been extremely positive:
“I really enjoyed the course and thought that Tim Turner really brought the subject to life. He was an excellent tutor and made this subject both interesting and informative with amusing anecdotes throughout. I would certainly go on another course being delivered by Tim Turner and I would recommend him to my peers.” LC, Glasgow Kelvin College
“Tim was an excellent tutor. His knowledge of the subject was vast and impressive. I learned a lot.” JM, Fife Council
“This is the most useful course I have participated in for a long time.” JT, Crofting Commission
Read a previous successful candidate’s observations here.
The course is endorsed by the Centre for FOI based at Dundee University. The Chair of the independent Exam Board , Professor Kevin Dunion (formerly the Scottish Information Commissioner and now the Executive Director of the Centre for FOI).
The most recent course was delivered by Frank Rankin who has many years of experience working in the Scottish public sector. Frank said:
“The Act Now certificate brings together a fantastic cross section of FOISA practitioners from a range of organisations, large and small, across all parts of the public sector. I love sharing ideas and experience with these colleagues, and learning from their campaign stories as well.”
The Act Now Practitioner Certificate in FOISA is now the qualification of choice for FOISA professionals in Scotland. The next course is in February 2017 runs over five weeks and is already filling up. For those who are time poor we also have a one-week intensive option. More details here: http://www.actnow.org.uk/content/113
Following a consultation last year, 1st September 2016 saw FOISA being extended to cover more organisations. Act Now has a full programme of FOISA workshops in Scotland.
