If you’re interested in open government data, please read (and repost) www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blogs/digita...

This thread from @mysociety.org summarises the points I made in my talk at #FOIFest yesterday - and all the other talks too, with lots of very useful & interesting insights

Another very useful summary thread of yesterday's #FOIFest

Next week, it's the 14th @transformgovtalks.bsky.social Join us on Weds 25th, 6pm, MoJ/online, with: - @liamhawkes.bsky.social & Violette Gadenne, CoLab, Home Office, on service design in a spending review - @jamestplunkett.bsky.social @kinship.works on the energy at the edges luma.com/q19znan6

Also on FOI, I chaired 'FOIA at 25: What next for freedom of information?' @instituteforgovernment.org.uk last September - watch it at www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/foi-ac... Featuring @itscrowbot.bsky.social @jennacorderoy.bsky.social @benworthy.bsky.social @lynnwyeth.bsky.social

Excellent day yesterday at #FOIFest - more to follow, but for now, @mysociety.org have a live thread from the day bsky.app/profile/myso... (as does @charlierad.bsky.social, bsky.app/profile/char...)

Free zine on Disabled Gods : libcom.org/article/disa...

I enjoyed listening yesterday to Isaac Beevor (or “Beev-Orr” as some may say) speak at FOI Fest He described Climate Emergency UK’s team of volunteers processing and inputting data from FOI responses A process so many organisations could utilise for greater impact @climateemergencyuk.bsky.social

I learnt today at #FOIFest that making full use of the Freedom of Information #FOI act requires perseverance And using all the tools available, inc. escalating matters to the Information Commissioner’s Office (#ICO) Two complaints now submitted to ICO about MoD not undertaking Internal Reviews

The unreasonable effectiveness of internal review is really interesting! Wrote about it here research.mysociety.org/html/improvi...

Great summary thread from Charlie 👇

Really interesting thread on FOI, including this mention of how Northamptonshire dibble got themselves in an expensive pickle.

@lucasamin.bsky.social good to meet you at #FOIFest and enjoyed your talk

Some pretty massive - and concerning - reductions here Switching greenhouse gas emissions from quarterly to annual reporting - it’s not as thought quarterly is that onerous and this seems like a massive error in analysing the impact of past, current and future systemic changes

And FOI Fest 2026 begins. Will share my key takeaways from the talks and offline chats i manage to have #FOIFest

@mouseinthecourt.co.uk just saw you referred to in @privateeyenews.bsky.social in reference to Andrew Milne’s actions What an ordeal for you! Separately, but linked, how can the SRA have 800 staff? 800?!?!

We’re all ready for #FOIFest! Stay tuned for conference photos and highlights ✨

Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.

New releases from the National Archives of government records from 2005 show how ministers and officials reacted uneasily to the implementation of FOI, and how they handled some initial cases - "This is becoming a real problem". What I found in the files: rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/tony-we-ha...

And the day of FOI FEST 2026 is upon us Excited to soon meet with fellow lovers of data, information, research and working to effect change #FOI #UK

Generally, this is good news, obviously. I guess I would just say that £400 is not that much. And only 60k people benefitted from the home adaptation stuff, so it's a relatively small number. But, again, this is better than their attempts to take money away from disabled people.

Featured hearings on Thursday 19 February 2026. Two hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice #NotSecretCourt openjusticecourtofprotection.org

Anyone know how many people in the UK use a wheelchair? Had a quick search and no clear answer came to hand #UK #disability #wheelchair

“£400 cash boost for disabled adults to tackle cost of living • 150,000 disabled adults to keep £400 more cash each year to help with cost of living • £700 million to support tens of thousands of home adaptations.” Published yesterday #disability #UK www.gov.uk/government/n...

I enjoyed this thread by @ruthcadbury.bsky.social describing the caseload challenges of an MP and their team, building upon @aliceolilly.bsky.social’s article I was grateful for my MP’s efforts last year in trying to resolve a farming matter of mine with the Rural Payment Agency/DEFRA

Observer newspaper: “Students in England leave university with three times more debt than in the US” (15/02/2026) Seriously? With the amount of US political energy spent discussing student debt, I assumed their levels would be vastly higher than in the UK.

Always found it so odd/frustrating that issues coming up in MPs' case work aren't systematically logged anywhere (not even within parties) - and other than letters to ministers there's no real feed through into policy. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Just wrote to my MP about BBC world service His reply staryed: “Before replying to your reasonable points on the World Service, can I just pass on my thanks for your service to our country in our Armed Forces.” Dunno what prompted him to add/say that Anyone else had this from Conservative MP?

Hedge laying going well so far. This team of three plan to do 60 metres a day between them. Photo 1: section of laid hedge 2: laid hedge up until next stage to do. 3: my 8yo holding the wonderfully oversized crooking mallet (to bash wooden “crooks” down to hold horizontals in place)

1/2km of hedge laying starting at ours today. Excited to see how this goes. And yes, the sun is then rain then sun then rain… the joys of Dartmoor!

“…tthe US military has landed at the Scottish Government’s Prestwick Airport more than 550 times, almost every single day, since the 1st April 2025,” Why does the US military need to land in Scotland so frequently?

I finished Rob Hoskins book below at Christmas I was surprised (and delighted) by how it galvanised me into making more conscious decisions for this year specifically, to dream, to hope, to actively reach out to people I value and respect: to take action towards nurturing the world I wish to see

Baltimore: if you have or know someone who has a little time and inclination: we need more folks to serve on the board of the last remaining conservatory in our city. We are a small and scrappy board and we need to build up our numbers to be more effective !

Display an album that was important to you when you were nineteen. No such album stands out, but this one track represents all my music experience at 19: m.youtube.com/watch?v=9HZm...

Friendly February - Day 15: Support a local business with a positive online review or friendly message actionforhappiness.org/friendly-feb... #FriendlyFebruary

My brother Garry has dementia and is currently lost somewhere in the Chester area. If anyone should spot him please call the police on 999. We'd appreciate reposts. @shitchester.bsky.social

Reading a book on Jungian archetypes and the maths of Euler “The key insight that made calculus possible was the revelation that infinity was not just an abstraction; infinity could be quantified”. I’ve hit my mid 40s and didn’t know that infinity can be quantified. What else don’t I know?! 😂🤯💥

An email to my MP on the BBC World Service. Cheesy and nostalgic, I know, but also heartfelt. “Dear Mr Stride, I implore you to do all you can as a politician and in parliament to protect the BBC World Service. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Poetry doing the rounds today. Just came across this: “Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night; God said, Let Newton be! and all was light” Alexander pope

Any members of the Royal Statistical Society attending the FOI Fest next week? @royalstatsoc.bsky.social FOI Network Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life @jrct.bsky.social @ecase.co.uk @mysociety.org pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...

First dry morning here on Dartmoor in weeks. A busy day ahead: • walk and use the drone to inspect 5ha fields • prep for 500 metres hedge-laying over the next fortnight • prep for planting 400 trees • inspect road drain (my 5 and 8yo are perfectly sized + excited to crawl through with torches) 👍🏻❤️

Toblerone, coffee, and Private Eye crossword in bed A good start to Valentine’s Day (all curated by me but hey-ho on that front!)

An evening thought of the day

I don't know who needs to read this … well actually I do … Improving transparency: key steps for councils to strengthen FOI compliance ico.org.uk/for-organisa... new from the ICO based on compliance data from 26 borough councils across the North West of England #FOI #localgov #opengov

What’s going on with the Immigration and Asylum Chamber Open Caseload? Top row, Dec 2024: 74,969 Bottom row, Dec 2025: 139,407 The number of claims has gone up a lot and the weeks from receipt to disposal increased by 20% Concerning figures Source: www.gov.uk/government/s...

ICO FOI 'challenges and tech solutions' survey The challenges facing FOI users and public authorities + how these could be solved using technology. Focus is on larger-scale issues about the process of accessing information forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Enjoyed this short thread 👇🏻👍🏻

A friend got into a bit of trouble with his travel insurance because he didn’t have a GHIC/EHIC card. I just thought folk knew that the EHIC had turned into GHIC post Brexit but that was clearly a bad assumption. Going abroad? Get yours here: www.nhs.uk/using-the-nh...

The NUJ has responded to the government’s order for the deletion of a large database of criminal court records, which many journalists use to track cases. www.nuj.org.uk/resource/nuj...

Timms review panel announced www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/timms-r...