Use cases / Public sector
The case
Case files for public bodies, from first contact to the end of their schedule
A case file has to follow your retention schedule and still be easy to find when someone asks for it, sometimes years after the case closed. folio will keep each case under its own rule, in the region you choose, with every view in your ledger.
Where it goes wrong today
Case records often sit in a mix of line-of-business systems and shared drives, each with its own idea of how long things should stay.
When a Freedom of Information or subject access request arrives, there’s a deadline to answer it, and you need to find what you have and show it hasn’t been changed.
What folio will do
Retain
Each case file will be kept by the retention class that matches your schedule, and disposed of when it ends.
Find
You’ll be able to search by case reference, name or the words inside the documents, which will make requests quicker to answer.
Hold
If an inquiry or a claim needs records left as they are, you’ll be able to place a hold, and nothing under it will be disposed of until two people release it.
Account
Every view and change will go in your ledger, which you’ll be able to export for your auditors.
What you’ll set up
- Turn your retention schedule into retention classes, one for each line of it that applies to case records.
- Create a folder for each case under its reference, so every document on it lands in one place.
- Choose the region your records will stay in when we turn folio on for you.
- File from your case management system through the API, and bring older cases across in one import.
A day with folio
- Documents from new cases will be filed from your case management system as they arrive.
- A Freedom of Information request comes in. You’ll search the case reference and export what’s relevant for review.
- Your legal team tells you an inquiry is likely, so you’ll place a hold on the cases it touches.
- Cases that have reached the end of their schedule will be disposed of, and your records manager will be able to show which, and when, from the ledger.
Where your periods come from
For public authorities, the code of practice on records management issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 sets out what’s expected, and the Public Records Act 1958 applies to bodies whose records are public records.
This page is general information, not legal advice. How long each kind of record should stay is your professional judgement, and folio will hold to whatever you set.
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Tell us what you have to keep
folio is in private beta. If it sounds like it would help, get in touch and we’ll set it up with you.