ICO's blog on its information rights work

Colleagues from the ICO’s FOI Directorate share their experiences and involvement in raising awareness of our regulation of access to information legislation.

FOI in action: advocating for transparency and driving change this ‘Universal Access to Information Day’

Each year, on 28 September, we observe the International Day for Universal Access to Information.

Read the full blog from Deborah Clark about the International Day for Universal Access to Information and celebrating the 20th anniversary of FOIA coming into effect.

Successes and setbacks: ICO reports on FOI compliance across NHS trusts in England - 24 July 2025

This year marks a significant milestone - 20 years since the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act came into force. For two decades, this legislation has empowered people to ask questions, seek transparency, and hold public bodies to account on the issues that matter most to them.

Read the full blog from Warren Seddon about how NHS trusts in England are performing when it comes to FOI compliance.

Improvements in proactive publication for public authorities - 23 May 2025

Transparency is the cornerstone of accountability, and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) is designed to increase transparency.

Read the full blog from Deborah Clark for an update on our work on proactive publication

Bitesize tools to help FOI practitioners stay ahead of challenges - 3 March 2025

We’re here to help organisations get transparency and accountability right.  

Read the full blog from Deborah Clark, the ICO's Upstream Regulation Manager, and get links to the new bitesize guidance

Transparency must be the default position for water companies - 16 December 2024

Public interest in water companies is higher than ever, with firms across the UK facing scrutiny over sewage discharges into lakes, rivers and the sea.

Read the full blog from Warren Seddon, Director of FOI at the ICO.

Advice to local authorities facing financial restrictions - 28 November 2024

Managing request volumes and issuing timely responses to requests for information are crucial to complying with your information access obligations.

Read the full blog from Terna Waya, Senior Upstream Regulation Officer, Freedom of Information and Transparency and Ribia Nisa, Team Manager, Public Advice and Data Protection Complaints Services

Empowering young people to learn more about their local environment - 05 November 2024

Did you know that no matter how old you are, you can ask public authorities about a wide range of topics that affect your day-to-day life and where you live?

Read the full blog from Aiden Clarkson, Senior Upstream Regulation Officer

Supporting public authorities to be open and transparent - 31 July 2024

Around this time last year, I wrote about our new Upstream Regulation team and our focus on supporting public authorities to be open and accountable with the public they serve.

Read the full blog from Deborah Clark, our Upstream Regulation manager

Understanding what information people commonly request from public authorities - 03 June 2024

People can use the WhatDoTheyKnow (WDTK) website to submit Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests to public organisations.

Working with WDTK, we have analysed a sample of more than 150,000 requests made during 2022 and identified common themes in the information that has been asked for.

Read the full blog from Aiden Clarkson, Senior Upstream Regulation Officer - FOI and Transparency

Director’s update: the FOI year in review - 25 April 2024

It’s fair to say that it’s been a heck of a year for the FOI team.

We’ve received more than 8,000 complaints – against a previous high of 6,418 in 2018/19.

Read the full blog from Warren Seddon, ICO Director of Freedom of Information and Transparency, about the year in review for the FOI team.

Are you clear on clarifying information requests? - 10 January 2024

Public organisations hold a huge amount of information across a wide range of areas. That’s why it’s vital that practitioners understand exactly what people are asking for when dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).

Read the full blog from Sophie Turner, the ICO's Senior Upstream Regulation Officer for FOI and Transparency.