Many FOI problems begin at intake. A request can arrive through a public form, email address, generic inbox, or another department. If that first step is inconsistent, everything after it becomes harder to manage.
Recognise and capture requests consistently
The ICO guidance explains that organisations need to recognise requests for recorded information and respond appropriately. That means the intake process should help staff identify potential FOI requests quickly and route them to the right team.
Phanera helps by giving public authorities a structured public portal and internal dashboard, so requests can be captured with the information needed for triage and follow-up.
- Use a clear public route for new requests.
- Capture requester details and request wording consistently.
- Record request type, category, department, and priority.
- Ask for clarification where needed and track the pause in context.
- Keep all early decisions visible in the request history.
Reduce handoff confusion
When requests are passed around by email, ownership can become unclear. A structured intake process gives each case a known status and reduces the risk that teams duplicate work or miss key details.
How Phanera helps
Phanera combines request capture, categorisation, department assignment, templates, and audit history so intake becomes part of the same workflow as response handling.
A better intake process does not need to feel bureaucratic. It should make the first decision easier: what is this request, who owns it, and what needs to happen next?