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Hello! You can make Freedom of Information requests within Deutschland at Frag
den Staat and to EU institutions at Ask The EU ×

Printed from https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/ on August 01, 2024 12:56


WHATDOTHEYKNOW

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GET ANSWERS FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR

Make a request for information to a UK public authority: by law, they have to
respond

Browse 1,080,335 requests to 46,575 authorities


WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING?

Start your own request

Make a request »
Learn more


HOW IT WORKS

You have the right to request information from any public body, and get answers.
WhatDoTheyKnow helps you make a Freedom of Information request for free. It also
publishes all requests online.

 1. Use this site to make your request for information – we'll show you how.
    
    1

 2. We'll drop you an email as soon as your request gets a response.
    
    2

 3. We publish it all online. Great! Now you have your answer, and everybody
    else can access it too.
    
    3

Learn more about the Freedom of Information act →


WHO CAN I REQUEST INFORMATION FROM?

WHATDOTHEYKNOW COVERS REQUESTS TO 46,575 AUTHORITIES, INCLUDING:

 * Department for Work and Pensions 14032 requests
 * Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council 4086 requests
 * Kent County Council 2924 requests
 * British Broadcasting Corporation 4445 requests
 * Ministry of Defence 8632 requests

Browse all authorities →

LOOKING FOR AN EU AUTHORITY?

You can request documents directly from EU Institutions at our sister site
AskTheEU.org . Find out more .


WHAT INFORMATION HAS BEEN RELEASED?

WHATDOTHEYKNOW USERS HAVE MADE 1,080,335 REQUESTS, INCLUDING:

 * South Ayrshire Council answered a request about Social Care Team Managers
   
   about 1 hour ago

 * Leeds City Council answered a request about Software and digital systems in
   use by SEND Transport department
   
   about 1 hour ago

 * University of Bristol answered a request about Think Big Undergraduate Awards
   2024 - Statistics
   
   18 minutes ago

 * Cambridgeshire Constabulary answered a request about LoS Records
   
   about 2 hours ago

 * North Warwickshire Borough Council answered a request about ICT Relations
   
   about 2 hours ago

Browse all requests →


WHAT IS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION?

Make a request for information to a UK public authority.
By law, they have to respond.

The Freedom of Information Act, also known as FOI gives you the right to request
recorded information from public authorities.

As well as documents and emails, it also covers things like spreadsheets,
presentations, maps, videos and photographs.

By law requests have to be answered promptly and within 20 working days.



In most cases information should be released, but various exemptions allow
authorities to withhold information.

Learn more about the Freedom of Information act →


HOW DO I USE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION?

From coach drop off points to national borders; modern slavery to council
sell-offs, Freedom of Information is a tool that everyone can use. Individual or
community group; journalist or campaigner. National or local; every day or now
and then. Here are just a few of the ways that it can help…

🔍 Find the evidence: Survey responses, research reports and board papers can
help you to uncover the truth behind decisions and public statements.

⚖️ Compare and contrast: Compare the situation in your local area with what’s
happening in other parts of the country and highlight disparities or
similarities.

💰 Follow the money: Contracts, invoices and budget information let you see
where public money goes, ensuring greater accountability for how funds are
allocated and spent.

🧩 Fill in the gaps: You can ask a group of authorities to build or extract a
dataset that didn't exist. This can fill knowledge gaps and improve public
understanding of specific issues.

🤔 Understand why: Meeting minutes, policy papers and internal correspondence
can help you to understand why important decisions were taken, and who is
accountable for those decisions.

☀️ Promote openness: Asking for datasets can help to show that there is public
demand to see it, which might persuade the authority to publish it themselves
without needing to be asked.

Read our case studies for some great examples of how others have put these ideas
to use.


HOW DOES WHATDOTHEYKNOW HELP?

🔀 Find the right authority: A database of 46,000+ public bodies, kept up to
date by a team of staff and volunteers.

🗂️ Public archive: A permanent, searchable, public record of over one million
information requests and responses.



✍️ Write your request: Inline guidance and a collection of help pages to help
write your request.



🤖 Automate bureaucracy: Built in assistance and reminders to manage your
request from submission to completion.



🏟️ Correspond in public: Requests and responses are automatically published
online with proof of delivery to hold authorities accountable to respond.



🛑 Refusal advice: Encouragement, support, guidance and snippets to help
challenge refusals at internal review, regulator appeal and tribunal(soon).



Learn more about WhatDoTheyKnow. Want to know something? Start your own request
→

WhatDoTheyKnow is a project of mySociety, a not for profit that creates
technology, research and data to empower citizens to take their first steps
towards greater civic participation.


KEEP UP WITH WHAT WE'RE DOING

News on Transparency, Democracy, Community Climate and more…

Subscribe to our newsletters


LATEST NEWS AND CAMPAIGNS


TELL US HOW YOU’VE USED BATCH REQUESTS — GET FREE PRO CREDIT

Free credit for WhatDoTheyKnow Pro subscribers who add links from their batch
requests to the stories or papers that the requests have fed into.

Read post


WHATDOTHEYKNOW IS A TOOL FOR ACCESSING INFORMATION

WhatDoTheyKnow provides an easy way for anyone to exercise their rights under
the FOI Act.  While requests are made by individuals, the information that is
received through the site is...

Read post


NOTES FROM THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION NETWORK

Summer is finally upon us, and though things are slowing slightly in the heat
there’s been lots of amazing work happening on Access to Information across
Europe this month! NB:...

Read post


SCORECARDS VOLUNTEERING INCREASES CLIMATE SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND CONFIDENCE

Prefer to watch this post as a video? Scroll down to the end. — The Council
Climate Action Scorecards are compiled by a cohort of volunteers, trained up by
Climate...

Read post
Donate now to support our work or browse more


OUR VIDEOS ABOUT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION


BEING SPECIFIC IN YOUR FOI REQUEST WORDING

Watch on YouTube


DATA VISUALISATION SHOW AND TELL

Watch on YouTube


REGULATING ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Watch on YouTube
Make a donation to support our research or watch more


OUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION RESEARCH


PRIORITISING FOI COMPLAINTS

Draft response to ICO consultation on how to prioritise FOI complaints

Read article


HOW MANY PEOPLE USE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION? THE NUMBERS BLOG POST

More details on our FOI polling, and how it compares with other polling and
estimates of FOI use.

Read article


FOI REFORM IN SCOTLAND

Response to consultation on Private Members Bill

Read article


WHAT ARE ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REQUESTS AND HOW DO THEY DIFFER IN SCOTLAND?

Understanding what makes Environmental Information special in Freedom of
Information and the (minor) differences in how this is interpreted in Scotland.

Read article


FOI AND APPEALS TO THE REGULATOR

How do appeals to ICO and OSIC vary in outcome and time taken?

Read article


USING ACCESS TO INFORMATION TO SUPPORT SOCIAL CHANGE

A look at how organisations which support marginalised communities use and
request information from public bodies, what the information unlocks and what
mySociety can do to better support this use of access to information.

Read article
Donate now to support our research or browse more



WHATDOTHEYKNOW

A site to help anyone submit a Freedom of Information request. WhatDoTheyKnow
also publishes and archives requests and responses, building a massive archive
of information.

Established in 2008. Run by Volunteers and powered by Alaveteli.

Dedicated to Chris Lightfoot.

 * Make a request
 * Browse requests
 * View authorities
 * Campaigners
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 * Help
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Your donations keep this site and others like it running

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mySociety is a registered charity in England and Wales (1076346) and a limited
company (03277032). We provide commercial services through our wholly owned
subsidiary SocietyWorks Ltd (05798215).

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