I also looked at what the latest @britishelectionstudy.com data tells us about the leisure activities of different party supporters, and this was the most striking comparison - Reform voters are much less likely to get their news from the BBC rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/politics-p...

What are the links between personality and party support? I've examined the latest @britishelectionstudy.com data for the most recent evidence .... rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/politics-p...

What are the links between personality and party support? I've examined the latest @britishelectionstudy.com data for the most recent evidence .... rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/politics-p...

Reminder: On Tues 14 Oct, I'm talking to the ICO's Director of FOI Warren Seddon abut 20 years of FOI, as part of the ICO's annual online event - anyone can register via here: ico.org.uk/about-the-ic...

I'm taking part in an online discussion about 20 years of FOI with the ICO's Director of FOI, Warren Seddon, as part of the ICO's annual online conference (DPPC 2025) on Tues 14 Oct - open to anyone, you can sign up at ico.org.uk/about-the-ic...

This is a fascinating article, full of detail, for anyone interested in access to government records and processes for their preservation

Lots of very interesting detail in this ...

Since MRPs are in the news, this is what I wrote in May after a British Polling Council conference … more here: rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/maybe-righ...

A useful new blog from the ICO's Deborah Clark, providing a good summary of how the ICO sees its recent measures to improve FOI compliance by public authorities - ico.org.uk/about-the-ic...

The ICO has today published its own new introductory guides for journalists, academics and small businesses about how to use FOI and information rights - ico.org.uk/for-the-publ...

Another plug for this piece, justified surely by all the comments received telling me how 'fascinating' & 'insightful' it is, and setting aside the suspicion that they are, ironically perhaps in the circumstances, AI-generated...

Interesting point that the Scottish government’s refusal to provide screenshots of its searches for the requested info is inconsistent with its practice in other recent FOI cases. www.scottishlegal.com/articles/sco... @katysclark.bsky.social

The UK's major complaints services are receiving increasing numbers of cases to investigate, and the use of generative AI chatbots might be a cause. rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/generative...

Good event coming up for those interested in FOI ...

The UK's major complaints services are receiving increasing numbers of cases to investigate, and the use of generative AI chatbots might be a cause. rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/generative...

Consultation exercise now open on the Bill to strengthen FOI law in Scotland - your chance to express your views on the proposals ...

Latest quarterly FOI stats out today show: 1) Big increase in FOI requests to govt, esp for Home Office, DWP, Treasury 2) Delays at FCDO are still terrible 3) National Archives is at last sorting out its huge backlog caused by transfer of MoD personnel files

This really was a great event - do watch it back if you couldn't make it!

www.mysociety.org/2025/09/03/h... The 'citations' page on WhatDoTheyKnow gathers together #FOI requests which have fed into news, research or campaigns - or brought significant changes to democracy. #freedomofinformation

The Upper Tribunal has just published its decision in the legal saga surrounding the ICO's oldest live FOI case, which is nearly four years old. It ruled the ICO is entitled to require a resistant Police Service of NI to give it a copy of the information, to help it assess if it should be released.

Next Weds, I'm chairing a Freedom of Info anniversary event @instituteforgovernment.org.uk with a great line-up: @jennacorderoy.bsky.social @itscrowbot.bsky.social @benworthy.bsky.social @lynnwyeth.bsky.social John Edwards & Lord Falconer Join us! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/foi-ac...

CFoIS announces a series of briefings on the FoI Reform Bill, called ‘Bill Brunches’. Find out more about the third event, in conjunction with @thecommonweal.bsky.social, below and book a ticket here: www.eventbrite.com/e/1586413658... #FoISAReform25 #freedomofinformation #humanrights #event #foi

ONS ad hocs are full of treasure www.ons.gov.uk/alladhocs #datadiscovery #opendata

We've updated the APPG Register Difference Detector for the last release pages.mysociety.org/appg-members...

Under FOI I've obtained a copy of the unpublished full strategic review on electoral registration and conduct, which informed some of the govt plans announced last month on reforming electoral law. It has a substantial section on overseas voters which seems to have been completely ignored.

The ONS has just released data on popular baby names divided by social class, so if you're looking for a currently classness popular name, the answers seem to be Noah and Olivia

"That assistant is called FOIA Bot and is powered by generative AI. When the government sends back a request or rejection, the bot comes up with a competent rejoinder, given its access to the whole of Norway’s FOIA law and 75 templates of similar responses from the Norwegian Press Association."

I recently gave a presentation to staff at the Information Commissioner's Office about my perspective as a user of FOI after 20 years, positive and negative, and also my views on the ICO itself and its FOI work - this is what I said: rosenbaum6.substack.com/p/twenty-yea...

So Hackney only has 53 band H properties, a fact which was public already, but once everyone can easily see public lists of which properties are in which band, the outdated & arbitrary nature of council tax band valuations becomes even clearer

The Freedom of Information Act at 25: What next for freedom of information? Created to give citizens the right to request information from public authorities, our panel will assess the FOIA and explore how the system can be improved. 🎟️Register: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/foi-ac...

⚖️ Help Close FOl Loophole ⚖️ We're pushing for public sector contractors to be brought under the FOI Act. Has an authority ever refused you information about the performance of a contract saying it 'does not hold' the information? Does a contractor hold it? If so, let us know at [email protected]

The ICO is taking action against the Cabinet Office because of lengthy and unexplained FOI delays. In a new practice recommendation the ICO is highly critical of the Cabinet Office approach to FOI, telling it to supply quarterly updates for monitoring of its future performance.

'staff at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the government’s legal advisory office, had intervened to “maximise the delay” in having to disclose' the information requested

CFoIS announces a series of briefings on the FoI Reform Bill, called ‘Bill Brunches’. Find out more about the second event on Social Housing with @gwsforum.bsky.social below and book a ticket here: www.eventbrite.com/e/1481611071... #FoISAReform25 #freedomofinformation #humanrights #event #foi

"So there are pros and cons to our understanding of parliamentary activity being dependent on transcripts alone. But the existence of accessible video recordings of Parliament makes it easier than ever to see the difference between what officially happened and what actually happened."

"Cummings’ email clearly sets out the problem that permitting the use of private platforms in government poses when you suddenly need those records again. What can you actually do when the person has left government, and declines to engage with the process?"

How vitally important documents from the heart of government have been kept and organised, according to Baroness Finn, former Cabinet Office SpAd & NED (speaking in the House of Lords yesterday)

V thorough and clear article here by @alexparsons.bsky.social comparing FOI and Parliamentary questions

"In other FOI news, the former chief executive of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Anne Donaghy, being prosecuted on three counts under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act and other legislation." (She denies the offences).

Very interesting data analysis here of the geographic basis of public opinion on immigration, using an important (& politically impactful) distinction between local levels of immigrant population v change in those levels - I recommend reading the entire article

If you would like to be a member of the Tribunal which considers FOI and other information rights cases, applications are now open for multiple appointments - this is a very important role, please consider it if relevant to you apply.judicialappointments.digital/vacancy/CZvc...

One million questions ... I estimate that last week the UK central government bodies covered by the official FOI stats probably received their millionth FOI request since the Freedom of Information Act came into force in 2005.

Important Tribunal decision: nuclear power company is covered by the Environmental Information Regulations and has to respond to requests for environmental info

The First-tier Tribunal has just ruled in my favour in another FOI case, upholding my appeal against the Information Commissioner who backed the Cabinet Office refusal of my FOI request. The case involves Cabinet Office discussions about the release of files to the National Archives.

The text & supporting documents have been published for the Bill promoted in Scotland by MSP @katysclark.bsky.social to strengthen and extend FOI - www.parliament.scot/bills-and-la...

Last call for this presentation I'm giving next Tuesday in London about how to make effective FOI requests - if you want to come along (it's a free event open to everyone), please sign up at the link below ...

@alexparsons.bsky.social talks about what we've created and why; @juliacushion.bsky.social dives into some of the history of @theyworkforyou.com; and @benworthy.bsky.social is fascinating on how MPs and the public have used our voting records over the years.

I'm particularly pleased about the regular proactive publication of this dataset, because years ago I had an eventually successful FOI dispute lasting 18 months to get it made public, against a Dept for Transport agency which refused to release it on the grounds it would harm commercial interests

Got a brief mention in the N Ireland Assembly yesterday, from Timothy Gaston MLA, about the NI Executive arranging transcription of one of my appearances on the Nolan Show - and was then interviewed by Stephen Nolan this morning about why I'm not that surprised ... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

It's good to see that the ICO is speeding up the publication of data on completed FOI casework, shifting to publishing monthly datasets within three weeks or so of the month they refer to, in place of the previous more delayed quarterly datasets - ico.org.uk/action-weve-...