Who can I request information from?
WhatDoTheyKnow covers requests to 47,144 authorities, including:
- Department for Work and Pensions 14846 requests
- Kent County Council 3238 requests
- Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council 4447 requests
- British Broadcasting Corporation 4612 requests
- Ministry of Defence 9180 requests
What information has been released?
WhatDoTheyKnow users have made 1,217,059 requests, including:
-
Greater London Authority answered a request about FOIA Supplementary Request – London Neighbourhood Health Service Simulation (June 2025)
about 1 hour ago
-
Greater London Authority answered a request about FOIA Request – London Neighbourhood Health Service Simulation (June 2025)
31 minutes ago
-
Nova Primary School, Bristol answered a request about Employment statistics for individuals with criminal convictions
about 17 hours ago
-
Westmorland and Furness Council answered a request about Councillor expenses claims 2023/24 and 2024/25
about 17 hours ago
-
National Police Air Service answered a request about Follow-up to FOI 2385749/25 - incident with NPAS helicopter UKP013 G-POLJ and a suspected drone - Video request
about 20 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 →
Latest news and campaigns
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Over the past few weeks we’ve seen public debate and campaigning around the government’s proposed cuts to PIP — benefits that are intended to ease the additional costs of living...
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February has been a whirlwind but we’re back deep in TICTeC organisation and looking forward to the sunny summer sun in Belgium in June. Let’s see what the network have...
Read postOur videos about Freedom of Information

Not sure exactly what you need to ask for?
Watch on YouTube
Getting the most from FOI
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Absolute exemptions in FOI
Watch on YouTubeOur Freedom of Information Research

Mapping the online Access To Information network in Europe
Mapping Access to Information website challenges and successes in Europe
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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.
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FOI and appeals to the regulator
How do appeals to ICO and OSIC vary in outcome and time taken?
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Network Rail: how accounting definitions of control can expand FOI/EIR coverage
Appealing to the Court of Accountants.
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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.
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