Freedom of Information
Axcess1 United Kingdom
Freedom of Information management, built around FOIA and UK GDPR / DPA 2018
Built around your law — not around generic case management.
Built around your law — not around generic case management
Many case-management products ask a public body to adapt its process to the software. Axcess1 is configured around the legislation, the procedures, the vocabulary and the reporting obligations of each jurisdiction. An organization chooses its Act once; every screen, deadline, letter and report then follows it.
Generic case management
The organization adapts to the software.
Axcess1
The software follows the legislation and the way government works.
Legislation supported
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (2000 c. 36) and UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 (right of access, Art. 15) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 as retained in UK law; 2018 c. 12)
| What the Act requires | As configured in Axcess1 |
|---|---|
| Who it applies to | Public authorities within s. 3: bodies, persons and office holders listed in Schedule 1 (government departments, Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Senedd, the armed forces, local government, the National Health Service, maintained schools and universities, police, and other listed bodies), bodies designated by order under s. 5, and publicly-owned companies (s. 6). Scottish public authorities are covered by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 instead. |
| Time limit to respond | 20 working days (s. 10(1)). The due date is calculated when the request is entered, with the holidays of the jurisdiction. |
| Extensions | Up to 20 working days. Only to weigh the public interest on a qualified exemption: "such time as is reasonable" (s. 10(3)); the s. 45 Code (para. 4.6) and ICO guidance say normally no more than a further 20 working days (40 in total). A s. 17 notice naming the exemption and an estimated date is still due within 20 working days. Clarification (s. 1(3)): time runs from receipt of the further information. Fees notice (s. 9): working days until the fee is paid are not counted (s. 10(2)); fee payable within three months. (s. 10(3)) |
| Third parties | The Act sets no formal notice; consultations are recorded and tracked on the request. |
| Decision and reasons | The decision letter gives the reasons, the provision relied on and the right of review (s. 17). |
| Fees | Amounts are in pounds sterling (GBP). No application fee. A request may be refused when the estimated cost exceeds the appropriate limit (s. 12): £600 for bodies in Part I of Schedule 1 (central government, Parliament, armed forces) and £450 for other authorities, at £25 per person-hour (24 or 18 hours). A fees notice (s. 9) may charge communication costs only (copying, postage). Subject access requests are free in most cases. |
| Review and complaints | Information Commissioner's Office (named "the Information Commission" in the Act as amended); 42 days to ask for a review (s. 50 (no statutory limit; s. 50(2)(b) "undue delay"); ICO guidance: six weeks) |
| Annual reporting | FOI compliance statistics (s. 45 Code of Practice, paras 8.5-8.6) — best practice, not a statutory report |
| Privacy breaches | Notification is mandatory; the incident register applies this jurisdiction's threshold, notices and time limits. |
Loaded for this Act
- 98 provisions (exemptions, exceptions and exclusions) ready to cite on a redaction, each with its section number.
- Request types: Freedom of information request (FOIA s. 1); Environmental information request (EIR reg. 5); Subject access request (UK GDPR Art. 15).
- Statutory steps on the timeline: Public interest test extension under s. 10(3) (reasonable time; normally no more than a further 20 working days; s. 17 notice still due within 20 working days); Clarification sought under s. 1(3) — the 20 working days run from receipt of the further information; Fees notice issued under s. 9 — working days until the fee is paid are not counted (s. 10(2)); fee payable within three months; Third-party consultation (s. 45 Code of Practice, ch. 3; no statutory notice, views not binding); Internal review requested (s. 45 Code, ch. 5: within 40 working days of the response; outcome normally within 20 working days); Complaint to the ICO under s. 50 (after internal review; ICO guidance: within six weeks); Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) against an ICO decision notice (s. 57; 28 days); EIR extension to 40 working days under reg. 7 (complex and voluminous request; notify within 20 working days)….
Checked against the published text on 2026-10-03. legislation.gov.uk — Freedom of Information Act 2000, 2000 c. 36 (contents; up to date to 1 October 2026) · legislation.gov.uk — FOIA Part II, Exempt information (ss. 21-44) · legislation.gov.uk — FOIA s. 1 (general right of access; clarification, s. 1(3))
Legislation-to-feature matrix
| Legislative requirement | Axcess1 support |
|---|---|
| Statutory deadline | 20 working days (s. 10(1)): calculated automatically for each request; overdue and upcoming requests on the dashboard. |
| Extensions and holds | Recorded as events that move the due date, each tied to its section of the Act. |
| Exemptions and exclusions | The provisions of FOIA and UK GDPR / DPA 2018 in the redaction editor, each with its section number. |
| Third parties and consultations | Notices, consultation packages and their due dates tracked on the request. |
| Fees | Fee notices and payments recorded on the request. |
| Reviews, appeals and complaints | Recorded on the request timeline with their dates and outcome. |
| Redaction | Done by the analyst in the built-in editor; optional AI suggestions that the analyst accepts or rejects. |
| Decision letters | Generated from templates for this Act, with the provisions cited. |
| Release | A release package built from the reviewed records; redactions are permanent in the released file. |
| Annual statistics | Annual access statistics for the period, with each figure traceable to its requests. |
| Audit trail | Every action on a request is recorded with the user and the time. |
From request to release
1Receive and validate
The request is entered with its type, requester and date received; a number is issued from your own numbering pattern.
2Calculate the deadline
The due date follows the Act: 20 working days (s. 10(1)). Holds and extensions move it and are recorded.
3Assign and search
The request is assigned to an officer; the units holding records are tasked and their answers tracked.
4Collect and review
Records are uploaded (PDF, Office files, scans with text recognition) and reviewed page by page.
5Apply the provisions and redact
The analyst marks a passage and picks the provision of this Act; the released copy shows the section relied on.
6Consult
Consultation packages are produced per party, with their due dates.
7Approve
The response goes to the approver's inbox for review and signature.
8Release
The release package and the decision letter are generated from the request.
9Report
Requests, processing times, decisions and provisions invoked are counted for the period you choose.
Agentic AI across the lifecycle
AI is switched off until your administrator turns it on, one capability at a time. AI assists. Authorized officials decide.
Intake agent
Proposes a new request from a message, the portal or a drop folder; an officer confirms it.
Document intelligence
Summarizes and classifies the records and finds the people and organizations named in them.
Responsiveness agent
Suggests which records answer the request.
Exemption assist
Proposes provisions of FOIA with reasons; redaction candidates appear in the editor.
Consultation agent
Suggests who should be consulted and on which pages.
Quality assurance agent
Checks a package a second time before release.
Deadline watch
Lists the requests at risk of running late.
Copilot
Answers questions about a request, citing the records it used.
Migration
Case history, requesters and documents are brought over from the system you use today, so you do not start from an empty database.
Deployment
Hosted by SoftSim in Canada, on your own private cloud or servers, or standalone on a PC or Mac.
Security
Each organization's records are separate, access is controlled by role and every action is recorded. Run on your own servers, your records never leave your premises.
Try it free for 30 days
One licence, the full product, no obligation. Or see it first in a 30-minute demonstration.
Find Axcess1 for your jurisdiction
Canada
United States
Ireland
Australia
New Zealand
Axcess1 supports configurable workflows designed around the applicable legislation. Government organizations remain responsible for legal interpretation and statutory decisions. Summaries of the legislation are paraphrases prepared from the published text; they are not legal advice.