Councils across the UK are under mounting pressure to respond quickly and accurately to Freedom of Information (FoI) and Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs). With the Information Commissioner's Office signalling an increased focus on local government compliance, many authorities anticipate a surge in regulatory notices – and the reputational impact of non-compliance within the community is significant.
Yet the sheer volume of information generated through modern digital collaboration has made timely, accurate responses harder than ever. Content is spread across multiple SharePoint sites, shared drives, inboxes, disparate systems and even physical storage. Documents are often duplicated, inconsistently tagged or stored without clear ownership, forcing staff to chase versions, permissions or naming conventions simply to locate what they need.
The challenge isn't that councils lack data. It's that so much of it is unstructured, and stored without consistent metadata, ownership, or retention rules
The result is operational inefficiency, missed deadlines, and increased exposure to enforcement action under both the FOI Act and UK GDPR. Many councils are also having to refuse requests under Section 12 of the FOI Act when the time required to locate information exceeds the 18-hour cost threshold – an outcome that frustrates citizens and erodes trust.
This is where a modern approach to information management becomes essential. TechnologyOne's Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform works alongside existing tools to provide the control and consistency councils need. With ECM SharePoint Connect, documents created or stored in SharePoint are synchronised into ECM, automatically inheriting the correct classification, security, retention rules and audit trails required for FOI and GDPR compliance.
The dual benefit is clear: councils maintain the collaborative flexibility of SharePoint while gaining a robust governance framework required for confident compliance. Dashboards and audit trails offer transparency over FOI and DSAR workflows, managers can monitor progress in real time, and records are discoverable and defensible when requests arrive.
The challenge isn't that councils lack data. It's that so much of it is unstructured, and stored without consistent metadata, ownership, or retention rules.
In a world where transparency and trust matter more than ever, strong information governance is more than a compliance exercise – it's fundamental to protecting community confidence and delivering accountable public service.
Kylie Allen Product success director, TechnologyOne
TechnologyOne is a global SaaS provider and long-term partner to public sector organisations. Its OneCouncil solution enables local authorities to modernise financials, asset management, HR, and information governance within a single, secure platform
