📣FOI requests inform important new Channel 4 drama
True to life series highlights “scandalous state of Britain’s rivers”
#DirtyBusiness #UKsewagecrisis #Environmentagency #transparency #accountability
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
📣FOI requests inform important new Channel 4 drama
True to life series highlights “scandalous state of Britain’s rivers”
#DirtyBusiness #UKsewagecrisis #Environmentagency #transparency #accountability
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
📣Reform Mayor pursues fracking in Greater Lincolnshire
FOI disclosures reveal council’s Mayor has met US fracking firm on at least four occasions
#GreaterLincolnshireCombinedCountyAuthority #Reform #fracking #transparency #accountability
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
📣US FOI data undermines Dept of Homeland Security’s case for immigration crackdown
77% of first time arrestees from January to mid August 2025 had no criminal conviction - and most convictions were for traffic offences, not for violence or drugs
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Civil service ethics head hired by civil service ‘in breach of its own ethics rules’
www.thetimes.com/article/32df...
For the day that’s in it would really recommend reading this piece and watching video with Andrew Lownie about carefully curated narrative was created around Andrew - and ‘policed by armies of lawyers and PR people’ and a pliant media.
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-the...
📣FOI requests about Andrew still blocked despite growing scrutiny of his time as Trade Envoy
Long-standing concerns about conduct and misuse of taxpayer funds do not appear to facilitate transparency
#Epsteinfiles #AndrewMountbatten #transparency #accountability
www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-fam...
🚨 ONE WEEK TODAY 🚨
Join us at Birkbeck College, London & online for
FOI FEST 2026
- Keynotes from ICO & Scottish Info Commissioner, followed by discussion
- Lightning talks
- Skills sessions
Sign up now: pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
And for FOI Network updates: www.mysociety.org/transparency...
Text reads: FoI Reform proves popular “To improve efficiency and transparency in the public interest – and to ensure that trade unions can access information for collective bargaining - FOI processes in Scotland require change. The Third sector has expanded and public funds have been given to ALEO's, outsourced organisations and private bodies involved in running core public services. These groups are not covered under existing legislation – making accessing information difficult and creating a lack of transparency.” - Unite The Union Scotland
@unitetheunion.bsky.social Scotland sets out why it supports the FoI Reform (Scotland) Bill.
#FoIReformNow #freedomofinformation #foi #accesstoinformation #ati
Text reads: Care 4 FoI? What happens in Scotland’s care homes matters. That is why we support extending FoI to the care sector. To find out more, attend one of CFoIS’ online briefings, held in conjunction with supporting organisations, about extending FoI to the care sector. Photo shows someone giving another person a helping hand
Text reads: What: Care 4 FoI? With The Jimmy Reid Foundation When: Thursday 12 February at 5:00PM to 6:00PM GMT Where: Online Cost: Free Tickets are available to book now via Eventbrite.
Attend the CFoIS-led event 'Care 4 FoI' with @reidfoundation.bsky.social on Thursday to find out more! Get a free ticket via Eventbrite now: www.eventbrite.com/e/1980371899...
#FoISAReform25 #freedomofinformation #accesstoinformation #foi #ati
📣PSNI breach latest: New Stormont compensation offer signals breakthrough
The deal comes after a similar promise before Christmas which was later withdrawn
#PSNIdatabreach #Stormont #transparency #accountability
policeprofessional.com/news/data-br...
⚖️ Understand your FOI rights - when exempt information can be disclosed in the public interest
Learn how the balance is struck in CFOI's forthcoming FOI requester training course next week!
Book here ⬇️
www.cfoi.org.uk/2025/10/usin...
Keynotes from the ICO and Scottish Information Commissioner!
Discussions on what FOI has changed - and what comes next!
Skills sessions!
Lightning talks!
FOI Fest schedule! www.mysociety.org/transparency...
Sign up now for 19 Feb! Free! pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
CFoIS Director writes about the need for FoI reform for Scottish Legal News
CFoIS Director Carole Ewart has written an opinion piece for Scottish Legal News about recent developments in Scotland’s FOI regime and the need for reform.
Read the full article here: www.scottishlegal.com/articles/car...
#FoISAReform25 #freedomofinformation #accesstoinformation #foi #ati
⚖️ Understand your FOI rights—and how to appeal!
Many new requesters accept an FOI request’s refusal at face value.
Some authorities count on this!
Refusals are not the end of the process.
Join our upcoming FOI Requester course to learn more.
Booking link ⬇️
www.cfoi.org.uk/2025/10/usin...
📢The trial has begun for former NI council chief executive Anne Donaghy, charged with allegedly deleting emails to frustrate a Freedom of Information request
Such FOI prosecutions are extremely rare given the difficulty in proving intent.
www.newsletter.co.uk/news/courts/...
Time is up today! Will the Scottish Government choose transparency or secrecy?
The Scottish Information Commissioner has issued the Scottish Government with a warning letter following its failure to comply with the requirements of Decision 281/2025 within the legal required timescale, setting a new deadline of Thursday the 22nd of January (today), to release the information. The Decision concerned a request for communications and information relating to the James Hamilton Report and associated published legal advice.
Will the Scottish Government comply with the Scottish Information Commissioner’s ruling to release all the specified files relating to James Hamilton's investigation into whether the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, broke the ministerial code? The clock is ticking.
The clock is ticking on a Scottish Information Commissioner's Decision regarding the Scottish Government's compliance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
#FoISAReform25 #freedomofinformation #accesstoinformation #foi #ati
Text highlights concerns about exempting organic food certification from public scrutiny, with a focus on Scottish salmon farms.
🔴NEW: The UK’s leading organic verification company is trying to dodge freedom of information law, in a case which could have important implications for transparency.
Find out more: https://www.theferret.scot/organic-food-certification-scrutiny/
⚖️ Understand your FOI rights—and how to use them!
Our next FOI requester training course on February 11th is aimed at newcomers and those who want to make more effective requests.
You will have the opportunity to draft your own and get feedback on it.
Book here ⬇️
www.cfoi.org.uk/foi-training/
Victims ditch hundreds of sex assault cases, Met Police has to admit.
The Times had to fight a 3 year legal battle to force it to disclose a report into policing violence against women and girls, In the aftermath of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...
Freedom of Information is all grown up - it turns 21 this year!
Join us for a one day conference to celebrate, scrutinise, and share everything around #FOI in the UK: pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
Scottish Government launches consultation on extending FoI to care sector
CFoIS welcomes the publication of the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Extension of Freedom of Information in (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) to private and third sector providers of care home and ‘care at home’ services. CFoIS believes all providers of such care services should be covered by FoI law to ensure equality on the delivery of transparency rights and compliance with duties.
Section 2 of the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill closes a legal loophole so that if the Scottish Government chooses not to extend FoISA to a public service, Parliament can act instead. For example, if the Bill is passed by MSPs before 25th March 2026 and the Scottish Government declines to designate private and third sector providers of care home and 'care at home' services Parliament can decide to use its new power and commence the designation process under FoISA. The process is robust as it requires consultation, evidence gathering and debate so an informed decision is made by all MSPs in the public interest.
CFoIS is organising one hour online briefings, ‘Care 4 FoI?’, in conjunction with supporting organisations. More information on these events will be circulated soon. CFoIS encourages supporters to engage with the consultation in tandem with support for the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill campaign. If you want an enforceable right to access information from private and third sector providers of care home and care at home services, please give your views to the consultation by the 30th of March.
CFoIS welcomes the publication of the Scottish Government’s consultation on extending FoI to the care sector.
Find out more here: consult.gov.scot/communicatio...
#FoISAReform25 #freedomofinformation #accesstoinformation #scotland #foi
📣Use FOI to improve your research, campaigning or journalism
CFOI has been training FOI requesters for over 20 years
Our next course will be online on 11/02/2026
This live, interactive session will illustrate why some requests succeed and others fail
Booking link
www.cfoi.org.uk/2025/10/usin...
"John Swinney has decided his government should make a court challenge against the Scottish Information Commissioner's decision to order the release of secret evidence given to the James Hamilton investigation into Nicola Sturgeon some five years ago."
12.01.2026 08:55 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0Do you want the enforceable right 2 access info from private & third sector providers of care home & care at home services? Plz give ur views to the ScotGovt consultation launched today @unison.org.uk @unitescotland.bsky.social @rmtunion.bsky.social @nujscotland.bsky.social @fbunational.bsky.social
05.01.2026 16:02 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
42. However the Commissioner also considers the early stage at which the information was requested - shortly after the judgement and whilst the process to produce amended guidance was very much ongoing - to be a pivotal factor in the public interest considerations in this case. The EHRC, in its role as the independent regulator for equality and human rights, is trusted with providing guidance for policy makers, public sector bodies and businesses on equality and human rights law. Where any amendments occur to such laws, the Commissioner considers it vital that the EHRC is allowed a safe space to carry out its function of producing updated statutory and non-statutory guidance to the highest standard. The Commissioner does not consider it to be in the public interest to disclose information that would risk inhibiting the advice and deliberations feeding into that guidance. 43. Giving due consideration to the emotive subject matter and wideranging implications of the judgement in this case, the Commissioner is satisfied that disclosure of the requested information would be likely to provoke further polarised reactions. Having regard for the extreme nature of some of those reactions, such as threatening communications and vandalism at EHRC offices, the Commissioner is further satisfied that the EHRC is correct that the free and frank provision of advice, and the free and frank exchange of views for the purpose of deliberation would likely be inhibited. Whilst it is correct that officials should not to be easily deterred from expressing their views by the possibility of future disclosure, it is reasonable to understand in this case why they would likely be fearful of expressing their views so candidly.
The ICO has published its decision in a high profile FOI case, backing the EHRC's refusal to disclose internal communications about its interim guidance after the UK Supreme Court judgment last April (which ruled that the meaning of "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 is biological)
06.01.2026 11:16 — 👍 3 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
📣Central Government Freedom of Information Bulletin Q3 2025-2026
Statistics for July-September 2025 show improved timeliness.
www.gov.uk/government/s...
#FOI #Informationrights #transparency #accountability
The Commissioner considers it unacceptable for a government department’s compliance with the timeliness obligations of FOIA to be so far removed from the law set by parliament and his minimum expected standard for compliance, as well as the average performance for that sector. As the data in Annex 4 demonstrates the FCDO’s performance has been at such a level for a number of years and the Commissioner’s previous interventions and engagements with the FCDO have not led to sustainable improvements, but have demonstrated that better performance has been possible when sufficient focus has been applied to this area. The Commissioner agrees with recent comments by the First-tier Tribunal that compliance with the statutory timetable is vital and that “Significant delays can cause real difficulties to applicants, who often need information within a particular period of time for important reasons”.
The ICO has issued an enforcement notice against the FCDO because of its persistently "unacceptable" delays in processing FOI requests and its failure to improve properly, despite the ICO's previous more limited interventions.
Good - the FCDO's track record on FOI is terrible.
Join the #FOI Network on Thursday 19th February 2026 for an all day celebration of the Act's achievements and the challenges which still lie ahead!
"It is hoped that FOI Fest 2026 will be the seed out of which a wider FOI Network will grow."
pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
An #FOI from Norfolk County Council shows it handled 139 complaints about the England flags hung over the Summer. It also revealed the Council only removed one flag.
This means that all the other flags which have since vanished from the streets were removed by members of the public.
Do you know what you should be proactively publishing by law?
Is your Publication Scheme for for purpose?
Find out in the next free eCase webinar with myself and Sarah Laws. 18th Dec 12 noon.
#FOI #FreedomOfInformation #Transparency
ecase.co.uk/events/