Who can I request information from?
WhatDoTheyKnow covers requests to 47,150 authorities, including:
- Department for Work and Pensions 14920 requests
- Kent County Council 3255 requests
- Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council 4463 requests
- British Broadcasting Corporation 4617 requests
- Ministry of Defence 9215 requests
What information has been released?
WhatDoTheyKnow users have made 1,225,188 requests, including:
-
Herefordshire Council answered a request about Booking System for Respite Care/Short Breaks
4 minutes ago
-
Wokingham Borough Council answered a request about Care Auditing Solution
about 1 hour ago
-
London North Eastern Railway Limited answered a request about Licensing Arrangements Dovetail Games
about 2 hours ago
-
University of Oxford answered a request about Previous Educational Institutions
about 3 hours ago
-
Eastbourne Borough Council answered a request about Cooling Tower Register
about 5 hours ago
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.
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 routinely 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.
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.
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