WhatDoTheyKnow Statistics

Here you can see how well public bodies have responded to requests on WhatDoTheyKnow and meet the people most actively using it. You can also find statistics about requests over time.

Public Bodies

This section on public body statistics is currently experimental, so there are some caveats that should be borne in mind:

  • The percentages are calculated with respect to the total number of requests, which includes invalid requests; this is a known problem that will be fixed in a later release.
  • The classification of requests (e.g. to say whether they were successful or not) is done manually by users and administrators of the site, which means that they are subject to error.
  • Requests are considered successful if they were classified as either 'Successful' or 'Partially Successful'.
  • Requests are considered overdue if they are in the 'Overdue' or 'Very Overdue' states.
  • The error bars shown are 95% confidence intervals for the hypothesized underlying proportion (i.e. that which you would obtain by making an infinite number of requests through this site to that authority). In other words, the population being sampled is all the current and future requests to the authority through this site, rather than, say, all requests that have been made to the public body by any means.
  • Hidden requests are not counted. Unclassified requests do not count towards the percentages.

These graphs were partly inspired by some statistics that Mark Goodge produced for WhatDoTheyKnow, so thanks are due to him.

Public bodies with the most requests

Public Body Number of requests
British Broadcasting Corporation 3626
Department of Health and Social Care 3708
Brighton and Hove City Council 4512
Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) 4703
Department for Education 4896
Ministry of Justice 5257
Transport for London 6258
Ministry of Defence 6457
Department for Work and Pensions 11670
Home Office 12901

Public bodies with the most successful requests

Public Body Percentage of total requests
Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 91
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service 91
Brunel University 93
University St Mark and St John, Plymouth 93
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service 93
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service 94
Harper Adams University 94
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service 95
Royal Agricultural University 98
Arts University Bournemouth 98

Public bodies with the fewest successful requests

Public Body Percentage of total requests
National Crime Agency 3
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs 7
Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration 12
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 12
Animal Health 18
Prime Minister's Office 19
Edexcel Limited 22
City of London Police Authority 23
Attorney General's Office 25
British Transport Police Authority 25

Public bodies with most overdue requests

Public Body Percentage of requests that are overdue
Edexcel Limited 37
Norfolk Primary Care Trust (PCT) 37
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 38
Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 39
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 40
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 41
Coventry University 43
University of Southampton 44
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 46
NHS Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group 51

Public bodies that most frequently replied with "Not Held"

Public Body Percentage of total requests
Kent Police and Crime Commissioner 45
Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration 46
UK Financial Investments Limited 49
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons 50
London Councils 51
City of London Police Authority 54
Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner 55
Greater Manchester Police Authority 55
NHS Health Scotland 56
British Transport Police Authority 56

People

Most frequent requesters

Last 28 days

  1. R

    Rhiannon Andrews

    Joined in 2019

    86

  2. D

    Daniel Smith

    Joined in 2020

    67

  3. Profile image for Gavin Chait

    Gavin Chait

    Joined in 2016

    66

  4. D

    David Paul Jeffery

    Joined in 2020

    62

  5. J

    Jessica Thomas

    Joined in 2020

    59

  6. K

    Kyle Preston

    Joined in 2016

    59

  7. P

    Philip Jordan

    Joined in 2020

    56

  8. M

    Mr M H Green

    Joined in 2019

    54

  9. M

    Mr M Green

    Joined in 2020

    53

  10. M

    Mary Watts

    Joined in 2017

    44

All time

  1. J

    Jenna Corderoy

    Joined in 2017

    3278

  2. Profile image for Doug Paulley

    Doug Paulley

    Joined in 2010

    2609

  3. J

    John Fitzpatrick

    Joined in 2018

    2303

  4. Profile image for Gavin Chait

    Gavin Chait

    Joined in 2016

    2260

  5. J

    J Taylor

    Joined in 2015

    1956

  6. A

    Abdul Hai

    Joined in 2010

    1634

  7. B

    Basia Cummings

    Joined in 2018

    1597

  8. R

    Robert Cann

    Joined in 2012

    1561

  9. S

    Spend Network

    Joined in 2016

    1544

  10. N

    Natalie Davis

    Joined in 2009

    1517

Most frequent annotators

Last 28 days

  1. J

    J Roberts

    Joined in 2013

    61

  2. A

    Amanda Hart

    Joined in 2018

    22

  3. S

    SJ Kerr

    Joined in 2020

    15

  4. Profile image for D. Moore

    D. Moore

    Joined in 2015

    14

  5. M

    M Boyce

    Joined in 2011

    12

  6. C

    Cooke

    Joined in 2020

    9

  7. M

    Mr P Swift

    Joined in 2011

    7

  8. Profile image for Richard Taylor

    Richard Taylor

    Joined in 2008

    7

  9. G

    Glynn Magheramorne

    Joined in 2011

    6

  10. S

    scrupulous Landlord

    Joined in 2019

    6

All time

  1. J

    Jt Oakley

    Joined in 2013

    2144

  2. Profile image for Richard Taylor

    Richard Taylor

    Joined in 2008

    2049

  3. A

    Abdul Hai

    Joined in 2010

    1480

  4. J

    J Roberts

    Joined in 2013

    1243

  5. Profile image for Paul Cardin

    Paul Cardin

    Joined in 2008

    1003

  6. Profile image for Trevor R Nunn

    Trevor R Nunn

    Joined in 2008

    956

  7. Profile image for D. Speers

    D. Speers

    Joined in 2011

    922

  8. I

    ivanataylor

    Joined in 2009

    814

  9. Profile image for Ganesh Sittampalam

    Ganesh Sittampalam

    Joined in 2008

    777

  10. Profile image for Dr Neil Bhatia

    Dr Neil Bhatia

    Joined in 2008

    737

Requests

Hidden

From time to time requests need to be hidden on WhatDoTheyKnow. This can happen for a number of reasons. For example, the request could be about someone’s personal information that shouldn’t be public or the contents could be abusive.

Here you can see how often WhatDoTheyKnow administrators have hidden requests.

Week starting Request hide events
2007-12-10 0
2007-12-17 0
2007-12-24 0
2007-12-31 0
2008-01-07 0
2008-01-14 0
2008-01-21 0
2008-01-28 0
2008-02-04 0
2008-02-11 3
2008-02-18 1
2008-02-25 1
2008-03-03 2
2008-03-10 0
2008-03-17 1
2008-03-24 0
2008-03-31 0
2008-04-07 0
2008-04-14 1
2008-04-21 1
2008-04-28 0
2008-05-05 1
2008-05-12 0
2008-05-19 0
2008-05-26 0
2008-06-02 0
2008-06-09 0
2008-06-16 0
2008-06-23 0
2008-06-30 0
2008-07-07 1
2008-07-14 0
2008-07-21 0
2008-07-28 0
2008-08-04 0
2008-08-11 0
2008-08-18 0
2008-08-25 0
2008-09-01 1
2008-09-08 1
2008-09-15 0
2008-09-22 0
2008-09-29 0
2008-10-06 0
2008-10-13 0
2008-10-20 0
2008-10-27 0
2008-11-03 0
2008-11-10 0
2008-11-17 0
2008-11-24 0
2008-12-01 0
2008-12-08 0
2008-12-15 0
2008-12-22 0
2008-12-29 0
2009-01-05 0
2009-01-12 1
2009-01-19 0
2009-01-26 0
2009-02-02 0
2009-02-09 0
2009-02-16 0
2009-02-23 0
2009-03-02 0
2009-03-09 0
2009-03-16 0
2009-03-23 0
2009-03-30 0
2009-04-06 0
2009-04-13 0
2009-04-20 2
2009-04-27 0
2009-05-04 0
2009-05-11 0
2009-05-18 0
2009-05-25 0
2009-06-01 0
2009-06-08 0
2009-06-15 2
2009-06-22 1
2009-06-29 22
2009-07-06 1
2009-07-13 0
2009-07-20 7
2009-07-27 2
2009-08-03 2
2009-08-10 1
2009-08-17 31
2009-08-24 2
2009-08-31 1
2009-09-07 2
2009-09-14 1
2009-09-21 0
2009-09-28 1
2009-10-05 3
2009-10-12 1
2009-10-19 2
2009-10-26 1
2009-11-02 0
2009-11-09 4
2009-11-16 0
2009-11-23 1
2009-11-30 0
2009-12-07 1
2009-12-14 1
2009-12-21 0
2009-12-28 1
2010-01-04 1
2010-01-11 1
2010-01-18 0
2010-01-25 2
2010-02-01 2
2010-02-08 1
2010-02-15 0
2010-02-22 0
2010-03-01 0
2010-03-08 1
2010-03-15 1
2010-03-22 0
2010-03-29 2
2010-04-05 0
2010-04-12 0
2010-04-19 0
2010-04-26 0
2010-05-03 0
2010-05-10 0
2010-05-17 0
2010-05-24 0
2010-05-31 2
2010-06-07 0
2010-06-14 2
2010-06-21 1
2010-06-28 1
2010-07-05 0
2010-07-12 2
2010-07-19 4
2010-07-26 1
2010-08-02 1
2010-08-09 4
2010-08-16 3
2010-08-23 1
2010-08-30 0
2010-09-06 0
2010-09-13 2
2010-09-20 5
2010-09-27 1
2010-10-04 0
2010-10-11 0
2010-10-18 1
2010-10-25 2
2010-11-01 3
2010-11-08 4
2010-11-15 1
2010-11-22 0
2010-11-29 0
2010-12-06 0
2010-12-13 2
2010-12-20 8
2010-12-27 1
2011-01-03 2
2011-01-10 2
2011-01-17 3
2011-01-24 5
2011-01-31 1
2011-02-07 0
2011-02-14 7
2011-02-21 0
2011-02-28 0
2011-03-07 3
2011-03-14 1
2011-03-21 2
2011-03-28 0
2011-04-04 1
2011-04-11 1
2011-04-18 2
2011-04-25 0
2011-05-02 0
2011-05-09 0
2011-05-16 0
2011-05-23 1
2011-05-30 6
2011-06-06 4
2011-06-13 1
2011-06-20 4
2011-06-27 3
2011-07-04 1
2011-07-11 5
2011-07-18 56
2011-07-25 1
2011-08-01 1
2011-08-08 0
2011-08-15 1
2011-08-22 2
2011-08-29 3
2011-09-05 6
2011-09-12 2
2011-09-19 1
2011-09-26 0
2011-10-03 2
2011-10-10 2
2011-10-17 4
2011-10-24 2
2011-10-31 0
2011-11-07 1
2011-11-14 0
2011-11-21 10
2011-11-28 0
2011-12-05 2
2011-12-12 4
2011-12-19 3
2011-12-26 2
2012-01-02 2
2012-01-09 7
2012-01-16 3
2012-01-23 9
2012-01-30 7
2012-02-06 7
2012-02-13 4
2012-02-20 6
2012-02-27 8
2012-03-05 4
2012-03-12 3
2012-03-19 4
2012-03-26 4
2012-04-02 13
2012-04-09 4
2012-04-16 11
2012-04-23 8
2012-04-30 4
2012-05-07 3
2012-05-14 3
2012-05-21 0
2012-05-28 1
2012-06-04 5
2012-06-11 1
2012-06-18 2
2012-06-25 3
2012-07-02 9
2012-07-09 19
2012-07-16 5
2012-07-23 8
2012-07-30 2
2012-08-06 6
2012-08-13 12
2012-08-20 2
2012-08-27 1
2012-09-03 2
2012-09-10 4
2012-09-17 3
2012-09-24 0
2012-10-01 9
2012-10-08 10
2012-10-15 9
2012-10-22 5
2012-10-29 6
2012-11-05 17
2012-11-12 5
2012-11-19 11
2012-11-26 6
2012-12-03 3
2012-12-10 6
2012-12-17 0
2012-12-24 2
2012-12-31 3
2013-01-07 22
2013-01-14 10
2013-01-21 4
2013-01-28 7
2013-02-04 27
2013-02-11 3
2013-02-18 32
2013-02-25 5
2013-03-04 4
2013-03-11 7
2013-03-18 12
2013-03-25 26
2013-04-01 15
2013-04-08 7
2013-04-15 11
2013-04-22 2
2013-04-29 5
2013-05-06 3
2013-05-13 3
2013-05-20 4
2013-05-27 16
2013-06-03 6
2013-06-10 21
2013-06-17 10
2013-06-24 8
2013-07-01 4
2013-07-08 2
2013-07-15 1
2013-07-22 7
2013-07-29 2
2013-08-05 4
2013-08-12 10
2013-08-19 7
2013-08-26 2
2013-09-02 1
2013-09-09 1
2013-09-16 14
2013-09-23 4
2013-09-30 5
2013-10-07 5
2013-10-14 8
2013-10-21 12
2013-10-28 5
2013-11-04 2
2013-11-11 3
2013-11-18 6
2013-11-25 0
2013-12-02 0
2013-12-09 2
2013-12-16 6
2013-12-23 2
2013-12-30 2
2014-01-06 1
2014-01-13 5
2014-01-20 0
2014-01-27 3
2014-02-03 4
2014-02-10 18
2014-02-17 3
2014-02-24 3
2014-03-03 7
2014-03-10 1
2014-03-17 5
2014-03-24 0
2014-03-31 4
2014-04-07 9
2014-04-14 0
2014-04-21 5
2014-04-28 7
2014-05-05 9
2014-05-12 5
2014-05-19 5
2014-05-26 2
2014-06-02 1
2014-06-09 15
2014-06-16 4
2014-06-23 3
2014-06-30 107
2014-07-07 4
2014-07-14 4
2014-07-21 1
2014-07-28 7
2014-08-04 2
2014-08-11 4
2014-08-18 2
2014-08-25 3
2014-09-01 1
2014-09-08 5
2014-09-15 3
2014-09-22 0
2014-09-29 7
2014-10-06 10
2014-10-13 3
2014-10-20 1
2014-10-27 1
2014-11-03 42
2014-11-10 1
2014-11-17 9
2014-11-24 8
2014-12-01 12
2014-12-08 3
2014-12-15 4
2014-12-22 1
2014-12-29 0
2015-01-05 5
2015-01-12 4
2015-01-19 1
2015-01-26 16
2015-02-02 1
2015-02-09 8
2015-02-16 3
2015-02-23 2
2015-03-02 6
2015-03-09 4
2015-03-16 11
2015-03-23 3
2015-03-30 10
2015-04-06 15
2015-04-13 7
2015-04-20 7
2015-04-27 2
2015-05-04 4
2015-05-11 16
2015-05-18 6
2015-05-25 4
2015-06-01 11
2015-06-08 10
2015-06-15 6
2015-06-22 20
2015-06-29 6
2015-07-06 15
2015-07-13 15
2015-07-20 27
2015-07-27 6
2015-08-03 9
2015-08-10 7
2015-08-17 20
2015-08-24 8
2015-08-31 4
2015-09-07 9
2015-09-14 11
2015-09-21 4
2015-09-28 5
2015-10-05 10
2015-10-12 8
2015-10-19 9
2015-10-26 2
2015-11-02 8
2015-11-09 6
2015-11-16 6
2015-11-23 0
2015-11-30 5
2015-12-07 4
2015-12-14 3
2015-12-21 3
2015-12-28 3
2016-01-04 10
2016-01-11 5
2016-01-18 6
2016-01-25 9
2016-02-01 52
2016-02-08 4
2016-02-15 5
2016-02-22 21
2016-02-29 8
2016-03-07 16
2016-03-14 2
2016-03-21 5
2016-03-28 9
2016-04-04 8
2016-04-11 13
2016-04-18 2
2016-04-25 9
2016-05-02 3
2016-05-09 9
2016-05-16 7
2016-05-23 4
2016-05-30 14
2016-06-06 8
2016-06-13 11
2016-06-20 5
2016-06-27 10
2016-07-04 3
2016-07-11 9
2016-07-18 13
2016-07-25 6
2016-08-01 8
2016-08-08 5
2016-08-15 10
2016-08-22 19
2016-08-29 11
2016-09-05 5
2016-09-12 13
2016-09-19 16
2016-09-26 3
2016-10-03 8
2016-10-10 14
2016-10-17 47
2016-10-24 32
2016-10-31 4
2016-11-07 3
2016-11-14 2
2016-11-21 7
2016-11-28 12
2016-12-05 6
2016-12-12 7
2016-12-19 6
2016-12-26 5
2017-01-02 5
2017-01-09 6
2017-01-16 10
2017-01-23 9
2017-01-30 11
2017-02-06 8
2017-02-13 8
2017-02-20 4
2017-02-27 37
2017-03-06 18
2017-03-13 24
2017-03-20 14
2017-03-27 9
2017-04-03 25
2017-04-10 11
2017-04-17 9
2017-04-24 12
2017-05-01 40
2017-05-08 8
2017-05-15 7
2017-05-22 6
2017-05-29 26
2017-06-05 10
2017-06-12 9
2017-06-19 18
2017-06-26 24
2017-07-03 8
2017-07-10 6
2017-07-17 5
2017-07-24 27
2017-07-31 18
2017-08-07 23
2017-08-14 13
2017-08-21 15
2017-08-28 10
2017-09-04 23
2017-09-11 23
2017-09-18 9
2017-09-25 31
2017-10-02 18
2017-10-09 12
2017-10-16 13
2017-10-23 21
2017-10-30 17
2017-11-06 14
2017-11-13 15
2017-11-20 49
2017-11-27 14
2017-12-04 35
2017-12-11 9
2017-12-18 19
2017-12-25 43
2018-01-01 16
2018-01-08 7
2018-01-15 19
2018-01-22 15
2018-01-29 12
2018-02-05 11
2018-02-12 30
2018-02-19 9
2018-02-26 22
2018-03-05 6
2018-03-12 57
2018-03-19 17
2018-03-26 8
2018-04-02 4
2018-04-09 7
2018-04-16 6
2018-04-23 14
2018-04-30 7
2018-05-07 6
2018-05-14 4
2018-05-21 9
2018-05-28 8
2018-06-04 34
2018-06-11 9
2018-06-18 20
2018-06-25 19
2018-07-02 16
2018-07-09 14
2018-07-16 129
2018-07-23 50
2018-07-30 45
2018-08-06 171
2018-08-13 74
2018-08-20 484
2018-08-27 17
2018-09-03 3
2018-09-10 14
2018-09-17 5
2018-09-24 4
2018-10-01 14
2018-10-08 13
2018-10-15 14
2018-10-22 44
2018-10-29 87
2018-11-05 72
2018-11-12 12
2018-11-19 16
2018-11-26 5
2018-12-03 19
2018-12-10 41
2018-12-17 21
2018-12-24 192
2018-12-31 9
2019-01-07 20
2019-01-14 112
2019-01-21 1011
2019-01-28 81
2019-02-04 22
2019-02-11 18
2019-02-18 58
2019-02-25 6
2019-03-04 17
2019-03-11 24
2019-03-18 13
2019-03-25 10
2019-04-01 7
2019-04-08 9
2019-04-15 5
2019-04-22 2
2019-04-29 3
2019-05-06 2
2019-05-13 12
2019-05-20 2
2019-05-27 0
2019-06-03 0
2019-06-10 17
2019-06-17 3
2019-06-24 6
2019-07-01 14
2019-07-08 44
2019-07-15 14
2019-07-22 13
2019-07-29 23
2019-08-05 28
2019-08-12 7
2019-08-19 6
2019-08-26 6
2019-09-02 6
2019-09-09 20
2019-09-16 16
2019-09-23 7
2019-09-30 13
2019-10-07 30
2019-10-14 14
2019-10-21 29
2019-10-28 3
2019-11-04 13
2019-11-11 20
2019-11-18 2407
2019-11-25 8
2019-12-02 7
2019-12-09 11
2019-12-16 4
2019-12-23 3
2019-12-30 3
2020-01-06 8
2020-01-13 14
2020-01-20 18
2020-01-27 7
2020-02-03 8
2020-02-10 2
2020-02-17 6
2020-02-24 17
2020-03-02 3
2020-03-09 10
2020-03-16 9
2020-03-23 9
2020-03-30 23
2020-04-06 67
2020-04-13 34
2020-04-20 16
2020-04-27 13
2020-05-04 6
2020-05-11 12
2020-05-18 60
2020-05-25 11
2020-06-01 16
2020-06-08 24
2020-06-15 25
2020-06-22 17
2020-06-29 5
2020-07-06 17
2020-07-13 15
2020-07-20 8
2020-07-27 4
2020-08-03 23
2020-08-10 19
2020-08-17 11
2020-08-24 10
2020-08-31 20
2020-09-07 6
2020-09-14 8
2020-09-21 12
2020-09-28 8
2020-10-05 11
2020-10-12 16
2020-10-19 3