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Every request · every refusal · every silence
A refusal is a finding too, so we publish those as well.
Most accountability pages show you what they found. This one shows what was asked for, on what date, and what came back — including the requests that were turned down and the ones nobody has answered yet. The gaps are usually more interesting than the answers.
Everything asked for ends up in one of three states
Answered
Answered — published whole
- The document, not a quote from it
- The date it was asked and the date it came
- Redactions marked where there are any
- The wording, so you can ask it too
Refused
Refused — with the grounds
- The grounds quoted word for word
- Whether we appealed, and what happened
- Grounds that keep reappearing get their own note
- A refusal is published as prominently as an answer
Past its deadline
Overdue — and still chased
- The number of days, counted from the date sent
- Every chase logged with its date
- Silence is the commonest answer of the three
- It stays listed until it is answered or refused
What gets published about every request
What was asked — The exact wording rather than a summary. A summary hides how a question was narrowed before it was sent
When — The date it went, so the clock is visible to everybody instead of only to us
What came back — In full and as a document, not as the one quote we would have chosen out of it
If it was refused — The grounds they gave, word for word. Grounds that keep reappearing are themselves the story
If nothing came back — Published too, with the number of days. Silence is the most common answer and the least reported
What we did next — Appealed, escalated, dropped it, or ran out of money. Including that last one, which nobody prints
When — The date it went, so the clock is visible to everybody instead of only to us
What came back — In full and as a document, not as the one quote we would have chosen out of it
If it was refused — The grounds they gave, word for word. Grounds that keep reappearing are themselves the story
If nothing came back — Published too, with the number of days. Silence is the most common answer and the least reported
What we did next — Appealed, escalated, dropped it, or ran out of money. Including that last one, which nobody prints
How to send us something
Don't use the form on this page — Not for anything sensitive. It is an ordinary web form and it is fine for ordinary messages, which is all it is there for
Not from a work device — Or a work network, or a work account. Employers can see far more of all three than most people assume they can
What we can promise — That nothing identifying you is published without asking you first, and that we will drop a story rather than burn a source
What nobody can promise — That a court could never compel it. Anybody guaranteeing you anonymity is lying, and that is worth knowing before you send anything at all
Before you send anything — Talk to us about how to send it. That conversation is the useful part and it costs you nothing
If you change your mind — Say so at any point, including after we have started. We stop — and that has happened more than once
Not from a work device — Or a work network, or a work account. Employers can see far more of all three than most people assume they can
What we can promise — That nothing identifying you is published without asking you first, and that we will drop a story rather than burn a source
What nobody can promise — That a court could never compel it. Anybody guaranteeing you anonymity is lying, and that is worth knowing before you send anything at all
Before you send anything — Talk to us about how to send it. That conversation is the useful part and it costs you nothing
If you change your mind — Say so at any point, including after we have started. We stop — and that has happened more than once
What happens before anything is published
They see it first — Every factual claim goes to whoever it is about, in writing, before it is published
A fixed window — The same number of days for everybody, stated up front. Not shortened because a deadline is coming
Their reply goes in whole — Even when it is long, even when it is hostile, and even when it is better written than ours is
If they don't reply — We say we asked, and on what date. That is a fact about them rather than a claim about them
If they show us we're wrong — It doesn't get published. That has happened, it will happen again, and it is the entire point of asking first
If we're wrong afterwards — The correction goes at the top with the same prominence, not at the bottom in smaller type
A fixed window — The same number of days for everybody, stated up front. Not shortened because a deadline is coming
Their reply goes in whole — Even when it is long, even when it is hostile, and even when it is better written than ours is
If they don't reply — We say we asked, and on what date. That is a fact about them rather than a claim about them
If they show us we're wrong — It doesn't get published. That has happened, it will happen again, and it is the entire point of asking first
If we're wrong afterwards — The correction goes at the top with the same prominence, not at the bottom in smaller type
What this campaign cannot do
It cannot fine anybody — Or sack anybody, or compel anybody to do anything whatsoever. Nothing here has a power attached to it
Who actually decides — The auditor, the regulator, the courts and the electorate. Name yours here — those are the four with the levers
What it can do — Ask, publish, refer, and still be here next year. That last one is worth more than the first three together
How long it takes — Most of what gets published changes nothing. The ones that do change something usually take about two years
Why publish anyway — A body that expects to be asked behaves differently from one that doesn't, and that difference never appears in anybody's results
What won't be claimed — Credit for a change we can't show we caused. Plenty of things improve on their own, and pretending otherwise cheapens the ones we did move
Who actually decides — The auditor, the regulator, the courts and the electorate. Name yours here — those are the four with the levers
What it can do — Ask, publish, refer, and still be here next year. That last one is worth more than the first three together
How long it takes — Most of what gets published changes nothing. The ones that do change something usually take about two years
Why publish anyway — A body that expects to be asked behaves differently from one that doesn't, and that difference never appears in anybody's results
What won't be claimed — Credit for a change we can't show we caused. Plenty of things improve on their own, and pretending otherwise cheapens the ones we did move
How to check us
Every claim links to a document — Not to a story about the document. If a link goes to another article, that is a failure and worth telling us about
The documents are posted — Whole, as received, redacted only where a name had to come out — and the redactions are marked as redactions
Make the same request yourself — The wording is published for exactly this reason. Copy it, send it, and see what you get back
Ask for the working — Spreadsheets, notes, all of it. It is duller than people expect and it is available anyway
Where we got it wrong — Listed with dates, and never quietly folded into the original text
The point — Is not that you trust us. It is that you don't have to
The documents are posted — Whole, as received, redacted only where a name had to come out — and the redactions are marked as redactions
Make the same request yourself — The wording is published for exactly this reason. Copy it, send it, and see what you get back
Ask for the working — Spreadsheets, notes, all of it. It is duller than people expect and it is available anyway
Where we got it wrong — Listed with dates, and never quietly folded into the original text
The point — Is not that you trust us. It is that you don't have to
Get in touch
This is an ordinary web form. It is right for questions, corrections and offers of help — and it is the wrong channel for anything sensitive, which is what the section above is for.
Get in touch
If you picked "something sensitive", the reply covers the route and nothing else — so please don't put the substance of it in the message box above.
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.