There's a big difference between footfall at Greater Manchester's busiest tram stop versus its quieter ones (but they're still much busier than Denton train station with just 54 entries & exits):

#FOI relies on proper record-keeping, so it's good questions are being asked of records management policies involving the sudden destruction of information. Requests that actually got information:

Sending your #FOI request to public bodies that just can't help you is a waste of everyone's time. Citroen got data about the state of the UK roads through FOI requests to 424 councils. It then paid for some pothole repairs in Gateshead. But there aren't 424 councils in the UK...

Dealing with #FOI requests in a statutory responsibility for public bodies. Not treating that responsibility seriously enough can get you in a mess:

You know the classic #FOI response full of blacked out lines of text? It only works if the redaction actually stops you seeing text (so, for example, you can't just copy & paste it somewhere else)

In her #Budget2025 speech, Rachel Reeves has just announced that the two-child benefit limit will be scrapped from April. Our explainer looks at who is impacted by the limit, and what effect removing it might have on the number of children in poverty.

Couple of interesting #FOI responses highlighting the problem of comparing responses from round-robin requests Is there an energy bill overspend or different costs included? Car tyres or all tyres?

No data on child protection enquiries for home-educated kids. No rent appeals system stats. No idea if advertised Oxford tutors exist. Sometimes not getting information from your #FOI tells a story

When can you declare an emergency over? The 5p “emergency” petrol tax cut was introduced in March 2022, to offset a spike in prices They are now about 30p down on that month, & about 50p down on the absolute peak

How does an #FOI request potentially lead to residents being shut out of local parks next year? A tribunal judgement about the handling of a request shouldn't usually result in your insurer calling you a moral hazard and ditching you, so how did this one escalate...

In this week's slightly late #FOI Friday, sometimes no answer is the answer (except when it's no answer because it's just not the public body's responsibility):

A child poverty strategy with the 2-child limit in place would *not* be a credible child poverty strategy. *All* of the growth in child poverty since the 2011/12 low point is for children in scope of this policy.

Freedom of Information is political.  And not just in the sense that opposition parties are using it on a weekly basis in Scotland... 

PS we've also published all the documents and the judgement too 😀 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/victory-we...

This is the *fourth* information tribunal Democracy for Sale has won this year. We’re fighting more cases to prise open government secrecy and expose hidden lobbying across British politics. Sign up to Democracy for Sale to read @lucasamin.bsky.social 's scoop + more democracyforsale.substack.com

Government by WhatsApp The latest Covid Inquiry report criticises Ministerial use of informal communication channels during the pandemic. It says the practice has serious implications for govt decision-making, FOI, court proceedings and public inquiries.

Investigation: Dozens of councils do not hold data on how many home-educated children are subject to child protection enquiries – suggesting many authorities are underprepared for new duties to protect vulnerable children schoolsweek.co.uk/safeguarding...

I never thought a comparison could be overly harsh on Stevenage. But here we are.

Worth remembering as this unfolds that it was disabled people and people from ethnic minority backgrounds who disproportionately died. Tens of thousands needlessly lost their lives, many who died alone or with just an iPad. Thousands more were left with life changing Long Covid. A true scandal.

If only there had been some clues Boris was like this

Two stories this week highlight the usefulness of FOI for campaigners...

How many attempts did Britain's most persistent learner driver's need in order to pass their theory or practical tests (probably even more impressive given how hard it is to book tests!)

What causes child poverty? A fall in earnings is the event most likely to put household incomes below the poverty line. But nearly a fifth of families tip into poverty after the arrival of a new child. Knock-on impacts like someone giving up work for childcare add to the risk.

Workers have been threatened, punched, hit with a cricket stump, bitten, had hair pulled from their scalp, or even had their homes targeted, as #FOI shows rising attacks on Wirral Council staff:

Steve is a well known investigate journalist for the Texas Observer, The Barbed Wire and other outlets. His signal info is on his bio to reach him for anyone who might want to reach out A swatting incident that occurred last Thanksgiving, has been confirmed. Read 👇🏼

The FoI Reform Bill may run out of time before completing the 3 stage parliamentary process, according to the Minister for Parliamentary Business when speaking at today's annual FoI Conference. Lots of work to do by March 2026! @rmtunion.bsky.social @unitescotland.bsky.social

Worth noting: • Upward revision applies to entire 2021-2024 series — the *trend* in emigration is *roughly* flat • As infuriating as big revisions are, they mean data is getting better • BUT wild that we ever used a survey to gauge movements into and out of the country instead of counting people!

Securing a study spot in the uni library can be a challenge. Edinburgh University ran a pilot scheme to dissuade students from 'hogging' desks. #FOI shows how many were spotted in just a week:

Thousands of elderly and vulnerable people have received eviction notices from their care homes in the past year, #FOI has revealed.

Some classic and creative uses of #FOI this week.  One of the aims with the weekly blog is ideas that could be applied in other places. Some topics turn up often, others are a bit different: 

Oxford colleges have provided locations for TV series including Prime Target and Ludwig.  But, according to #FOI, how much have they made from filming:

Last week's #FOI Friday covered a victory in a battle to find out how much shopping centres purchased by a council were worth. This week we get to find out how much they've dropped in value:

Littering, vandalism, and lost laptops. And the country's most persistent learner drivers. It's this week's #FOI round-up:

Yes, I think this is what the “it’s smart not to do income tax” stuff is missing. If you remove salary sacrifice on someone’s pension contributions you are increasing their income tax! If you freeze thresholds you are increasing their income tax!

This is the kind of political thinking, elevating "narrative" and message above literally every actual real world policy question, that makes me want to smash my head into a wall over and over again

Child poverty is at a record high (and the Government might finally be about to do something about that). I dug into the numbers for @theleaduk.bsky.social and what they show about what the impact of child poverty looks like and how we got here. national.thelead.uk/p/child-pove...

Got a tip-off on a local crime wave? Council trying to top-up the budget with rising charges? What’s the background to that rebrand? #FOI is often local but you could make these ideas work for you:

NEW: Rachel Reeves signals she intends to remove the two-child cap *in full* "I don't think a child should be penalised because they're in a bigger family through no fault of their own," she tells BBC.

The two child cap is a test of the government’s seriousness: if you are serious about child poverty, you lift it, and if you are serious about not wasting money, you don’t fritter away cash on dumb things like vouchers to try and manage the PLP.

Public interest is a powerful thing for #FOI.  A decision notice shows how being able to share information about what public bodies doing can outweigh issues sharing it might cause:

#FOI can cover information ranging from murders in 1943 to cyberattacks and drone crashes.  Oh, and whisky:

At #CIJCardiff and I’m enjoying @jennacorderoy.bsky.social’s experiments with AI for writing #FOI. It seems to have ingested all of the annoying boilerplate text you should probably avoid in your requests!

#FOI question of the week: is information about a cupboard personal data? That, and other vital FOI related bits and bobs...

Are Freedom of Information responsibilities getting harder to dodge? The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has been taking FOI enforcement action […] The post Freedom of Information in the news – week ending 31/10...

A Halloween treat! A round-up of #FOI stories including a couple of spooky (or at least Halloween-related ones):

Is Prince Harry a public body for #FOI purposes? Probably not...

Reform's claims about the terrible state of Derbyshire's roads may have overstated the pothole problem. And an #FOI response misunderstanding seems to be to blame:

Potentially deadly 'incidents' involving medication errors or near misses and children in Glasgow hospitals are being reported once every day and a half, #FOI has revealed. https://clairemiller.net/2025/10/freedom-of-information-in-the-news-week-ending-24-10-2025-foifriday/\

What's the world record for #FOI request making? So far 17 in four hours. Unless anyone can claim to have beaten that.

Two #FOI requests this week showing the waits for children for ADHD and autism assessments in Wales and Scotland are very long: