BLOG: How public interest campaigners can navigate the Freedom of Information request process
These tips are just a few of the insights shared by the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Children’s Law Centre at our Navigating the FOI Act training session in May 2026.
The terms ‘freedom’ and ‘information’ might sound self-explanatory. We’ve all read news stories fuelled by statistics and reports uncovered by a journalist’s FOI request.
But you might be surprised at the range of resources that you can request a public body to disclose to you. And you don’t have to be an investigative media outlet to submit an FOI request.
Who and what?
Anyone can make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, including campaign groups, organisations and employees.
Photographs, audio recordings, draft versions of documents, even handwritten notes can all be considered ‘recorded information’ and can be requested under the FOI Act.
This includes information that is stored in off-site storage away from a public body’s main office but does not include institutional knowledge that is contained in a staff member’s head that isn’t already recorded in some other form.
For more information on information(!), take a look at this guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Disclosure (should be) = default
Information can be shared with the public proactively or reactively.
During our recent training session, the ICO team reminded attendees that the FOI Act is based on the principle that the public have a right to know. There should be an assumption in favour of disclosure.
FOI requesters don’t have to explain why they want certain information, in fact public bodies have to justify their reasons for refusing to share it.
Of course, the reality for many human rights organisations is that their requests are not always successful first-time round. Which leads us on to our next tip…
Specificity is your friend
According to the UK Government’s most recent statistics, 56% of the over 94,000 FOI requests made in 2025 were partially or fully refused. Of those, 26% were withheld due to the estimated cost of the response.
Public bodies can turn down FOI requests for several reasons, including if the cost of gathering the information would exceed £450 (or £600 if you’re asking a devolved assembly, a government department, Parliament or the armed forces).
By making your FOI requests as clear, concise and focused as possible, you reduce the risk of having your request turned down because it would be too expensive to answer.
Some tips from the ICO on this:
- use numbered lists or bullet points to clearly list out the exact information you want
- think carefully about the date ranges you’re requesting information in. For example, consider asking for minutes from meetings between certain dates, as opposed to all the meetings that happened in the last 5 years, if you don’t really need those.
- tell the public body if you would prefer to receive the information in a certain format.
In short, make it as easy as possible for the public body to fulfil your request (or make it as difficult as possible for them to refuse!).
FOI can be a revelation…
Freedom of Information requests can be an effective way to demonstrate the scale of an underreported issue.
PILS exist to support cases of broad public concern, typically that involve a group of people who have been disadvantaged. One way for advice organisations to gather evidence that that a particular legal issue they are witnessing is a systemic problem, not simply a one-off mistake, is through a well-crafted, strategic FOI request.
For example:
Participation and Practice of Rights (PPR) have used statistics gathered through Freedom of Information requests to underline the Build Homes Now campaign call for increased social housing in West Belfast. The Detail analysed the Housing Executive’s data in a series of articles on housing and land use.
… and it should be used with care and caution.
If you or your organisation are submitting a FOI request as a data collection or campaigning tool, it’s important to consider the possible consequences of receiving exactly what you are asking for.
Uncovering detailed information about sensitive issues, a regulatory failure or a cover-up could trigger painful memories for people who are affected by the situation.
It’s important to remember the very human impact that greater transparency might bring about.
Drafting the FOI request in collaboration with any members of your campaign group who are personally impacted by the issue you’re seeking clarification on can help balance an advocacy team’s desire for full disclosure with the dignity of the victim-survivors.
Keep your own copies
Remember to keep a copy of your written request.
If you’ve posted a physical letter, ask the Post Office for proof of postage. If you made the request through an online form, take a screenshot of the web page with its confirmation message and the date you filled in the form on.
These details will come in useful if you need to follow-up or complain about the response you get to your FOI request.
These tips are just a few of the insights shared by the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Children’s Law Centre at our Navigating the FOI Act training session in May 2026.
- If you have questions about the FOI process, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.
- If you’ve identified a legal issue that your organisations think is part of a wider problem, explore your options in PILS’ Toolkit: