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 3028
UK Border Agency 3350
Department for Education 3536
Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) 3627
Ministry of Justice 3852
Brighton and Hove City Council 4032
Transport for London 4962
Ministry of Defence 5200
Department for Work and Pensions 9827
Home Office 11385

Public bodies with the most successful requests

Public Body Percentage of total requests
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 90
Middlesex University 90
Bournemouth University 91
Canterbury Christ Church University 91
University of the West of Scotland 91
Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 91
Nottingham Trent University 91
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh 93
Heriot-Watt University 93
Brunel University 96

Public bodies with the fewest successful requests

Public Body Percentage of total requests
National Crime Agency 3
Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration 12
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 16
Animal Health 18
Prime Minister’s Office 20
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom 22
University of Southampton 22
Insolvency Service 23
Attorney General’s Office 24
Executive Office (Northern Ireland) 26

Public bodies with most overdue requests

Public Body Percentage of requests that are overdue
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 36
Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust 36
Norfolk Primary Care Trust (PCT) 37
Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 39
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 40
General Council of the Bar 40
Office of the Leader of the House of Commons 40
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 47
Coventry University 48
University of Southampton 51

Public bodies that most frequently replied with "Not Held"

Public Body Percentage of total requests
Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru / National Assembly for Wales 38
Antrim Borough Council 39
Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner 41
London Councils 43
Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner 44
Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration 46
City of London Police Authority 52
Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner 54
Greater Manchester Police Authority 55
NHS Health Scotland 56

People

Most frequent requesters

Last 28 days

  1. E

    E.Louise

    Joined in 2018

    156

  2. J

    Joanna Tsonou

    Joined in 2018

    140

  3. S

    S Evans

    Joined in 2018

    123

  4. A

    A McColl

    Joined in 2012

    102

  5. N

    N Marlow

    Joined in 2018

    100

  6. L

    L Hallatt

    Joined in 2018

    90

  7. S

    Steve Hagger

    Joined in 2018

    75

  8. D

    Daniel Stonard

    Joined in 2017

    50

  9. B

    Bert de boer

    Joined in 2018

    50

  10. T

    tony owen

    Joined in 2018

    50

All time

  1. Profile image for Doug Paulley

    Doug Paulley

    Joined in 2010

    2571

  2. J

    J Taylor

    Joined in 2015

    1956

  3. R

    Robert Cann

    Joined in 2012

    1545

  4. N

    Natalie Davis

    Joined in 2009

    1517

  5. J

    John Wicker

    Joined in 2012

    1497

  6. M

    Margaret Campbell

    Joined in 2008

    1456

  7. Profile image for Gavin Chait

    Gavin Chait

    Joined in 2016

    1405

  8. N

    Nicola

    Joined in 2010

    1368

  9. P

    Pat James (Account suspended)

    Joined in 2013

    1181

  10. P

    Paul Evans

    Joined in 2014

    1175

Most frequent annotators

Last 28 days

  1. Profile image for Frank Zola

    Frank Zola

    Joined in 2012

    26

  2. M

    Martyn Dewar

    Joined in 2009

    25

  3. M

    M Boyce

    Joined in 2011

    21

  4. M

    Mr Long

    Joined in 2016

    13

  5. J

    Jt Oakley

    Joined in 2013

    12

  6. Profile image for phsothefacts Pressure Group

    phsothefacts Pressure Group

    Joined in 2014

    11

  7. Profile image for Richard Taylor

    Richard Taylor

    Joined in 2008

    8

  8. K

    Katharine Collinge

    Joined in 2014

    8

  9. M

    Mr Paterson

    Joined in 2017

    7

  10. B

    Brenda Prentice

    Joined in 2009

    5

All time

  1. J

    Jt Oakley

    Joined in 2013

    2021

  2. Profile image for Richard Taylor

    Richard Taylor

    Joined in 2008

    1786

  3. A

    Abdul Hai

    Joined in 2010

    1360

  4. Profile image for Paul Cardin

    Paul Cardin

    Joined in 2008

    997

  5. Profile image for Trevor R Nunn

    Trevor R Nunn

    Joined in 2008

    956

  6. Profile image for D. Speers

    D. Speers

    Joined in 2011

    922

  7. I

    ivanataylor

    Joined in 2009

    814

  8. Profile image for Ganesh Sittampalam

    Ganesh Sittampalam

    Joined in 2008

    775

  9. Profile image for Dr Neil Bhatia

    Dr Neil Bhatia

    Joined in 2008

    736

  10. Profile image for Doug Paulley

    Doug Paulley

    Joined in 2010

    718

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 6
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 27
2017-04-10 11
2017-04-17 9
2017-04-24 13
2017-05-01 40
2017-05-08 9
2017-05-15 7
2017-05-22 6
2017-05-29 26
2017-06-05 13
2017-06-12 10
2017-06-19 20
2017-06-26 25
2017-07-03 8
2017-07-10 6
2017-07-17 5
2017-07-24 27
2017-07-31 18
2017-08-07 24
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 8
2018-01-15 21
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 7
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 73