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How to use this list
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives any person the right to request recorded information held by UK public authorities. That right is powerful, but filing blind wastes time. This guide gives you proven angles — requests that have produced real stories — so you can start with a lead, not a blank page.
Each idea includes the specific authority to ask, what data to request, a likely headline frame, and which exemptions to anticipate. Before filing, search WhatDoTheyKnow to see if someone has already obtained this data — you may be able to use or build on a prior disclosure.
Environmental angles (sewage, contaminated land, planning enforcement) are governed by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) rather than FOI. EIR carries a presumption in favour of disclosure and different exceptions — use it rather than FOIA for anything environmental.
When FOI story ideas are most valuable
- 1When you are starting a new beat and need to establish what data exists and who holds it.
- 2When a tip or whistleblower alert points to a problem but you need documentary evidence.
- 3When a national dataset is available but you want the local angle for your patch.
- 4When you are building a data-driven comparison across multiple authorities — rankings and league tables are highly shareable.
- 5When a story has gone quiet and you want to keep pressure on through an evidence trail.
- 6When you need to establish a baseline for a running story — request the same data annually.
Red flags before filing
- The data you want may already be published — check ONS, NHS Digital, data.police.uk, and data.gov.uk first.
- Requesting disaggregated individual-level data risks s.40 refusal — ask for aggregated statistics instead.
- Overly broad requests (e.g. "all emails mentioning X") will attract a s.12 cost-limit refusal.
- Requests involving active criminal investigations are likely to be refused under s.30 or s.31.
- Asking for draft or working documents often triggers s.35 (policy formulation) for government bodies.
- For EIR requests, the presumption of disclosure is stronger but the authority still gets 20 working days.
Story ideas by beat
Local Government
Council legal fees
- Ask:
- District, borough, or county council
- Request:
- Total spend on external legal advice by year, broken down by matter type (planning, employment, litigation)
- Angle:
- "[Council] spent £Xm on lawyers in three years — as it cut services"
- Watch for:
- S.43 (commercial interests of law firms), s.40 (if named lawyers)
Planning decisions overturned on appeal
- Ask:
- Local planning authority / Planning Inspectorate
- Request:
- Number of planning refusals overturned by inspector in last five years; cost of appeals to council
- Angle:
- "Council's planning decisions overturned X times — costing taxpayers £X"
- Watch for:
- S.12 cost limit if broad; narrow by date range
Parking enforcement profits
- Ask:
- Local council (civil enforcement authority)
- Request:
- Total PCNs issued, total revenue from penalties, surplus after enforcement costs
- Angle:
- "[Council] made £Xm profit from parking fines"
- Watch for:
- S.12 if disaggregated — ask for annual totals only
NHS
Waiting list breaches by specialty
- Ask:
- NHS Trust or Integrated Care Board
- Request:
- Number of patients waiting over 18 weeks/52 weeks by specialty, by quarter for past 3 years
- Angle:
- "X patients waiting over a year for [specialty] at [Trust]"
- Watch for:
- Often published — check NHS England stats first; FOI for Trust-level breakdown
Never events
- Ask:
- NHS Trust
- Request:
- Number of never events by category (wrong-site surgery, retained item) per year; outcomes
- Angle:
- "[Trust] recorded X never events in [year]"
- Watch for:
- S.40 if patient-identifiable; aggregated data is usually disclosable
Agency staff spend per Trust
- Ask:
- NHS Trust
- Request:
- Total spend on agency nursing and medical staff by financial year; proportion of total staffing budget
- Angle:
- "[Trust] spent £Xm on agency staff — X times the NHS recommended cap"
- Watch for:
- S.43 (agency contract rates) — ask for totals, not unit rates
Police
Use of force by station
- Ask:
- Police force (Chief Constable)
- Request:
- Recorded use-of-force incidents broken down by type, station, and outcome for past 3 years
- Angle:
- "[Station] recorded X use-of-force incidents — the highest in [force]"
- Watch for:
- S.40 if officer-identifiable; s.31 (law enforcement) — argue public interest
Taser deployment data
- Ask:
- Police force
- Request:
- Number of Taser drawn, aimed, and fired incidents by year, broken down by subject ethnicity if recorded
- Angle:
- "Taser used disproportionately on [demographic] by [force], data shows"
- Watch for:
- S.40 (personal data); ethnicity data may be refused — escalate via ICO
Custody deaths investigation outcomes
- Ask:
- Police force; IOPC
- Request:
- Number of deaths in or following custody per year; IOPC investigation outcomes (disciplinary findings)
- Angle:
- "No officer disciplined after X deaths in custody at [force]"
- Watch for:
- S.31, s.40; IOPC holds some data — file separately with IOPC
Education
Suspensions and exclusions by school
- Ask:
- Local authority (for maintained schools); MAT (for academies)
- Request:
- Fixed-term suspensions and permanent exclusions by academic year, broken down by reason
- Angle:
- "Suspensions at [school] tripled in two years"
- Watch for:
- DfE publishes national data; FOI for school-level breakdown if unpublished
Vice-chancellor pay vs student debt
- Ask:
- University (higher education institution subject to FOIA via s.38A)
- Request:
- VC total remuneration by year; student:staff ratio; graduate employment outcomes
- Angle:
- "[University] VC's pay rose X% as graduate employment fell"
- Watch for:
- S.40 (personal data — but VC pay at senior level is routinely disclosable)
Multi-academy trust executive pay
- Ask:
- Multi-academy trust (MAT)
- Request:
- CEO and senior executive pay, allowances, and benefits from published accounts (ESFA)
- Angle:
- "MAT chief paid £Xk as schools in the trust rated inadequate"
- Watch for:
- ESFA publishes accounts; cross-reference with FOI for additional benefits
Justice
Court backlogs by Crown Court
- Ask:
- HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS)
- Request:
- Outstanding Crown Court caseload by court, median wait from charge to trial, trend over 3 years
- Angle:
- "Defendants waiting X years for trial at [court]"
- Watch for:
- Much published by MoJ; FOI for court-specific granular data
Prison overcrowding by establishment
- Ask:
- HM Prison & Probation Service
- Request:
- Certified Normal Accommodation vs operational capacity by prison, by month
- Angle:
- "[Prison] running at X% overcapacity — highest in the estate"
- Watch for:
- S.38 (health and safety); published data often available — FOI for trends
Transport
Pothole compensation claims
- Ask:
- Highways authority (county or unitary council)
- Request:
- Number of pothole-related compensation claims, amounts paid and rejected, by year
- Angle:
- "[Council] paid £Xk in pothole compensation — but rejected X% of claims"
- Watch for:
- S.43 (litigation risk) — argue the public interest in road safety disclosure
Road death black spots
- Ask:
- Local highways authority; DfT
- Request:
- Fatal and serious injury collisions by road or junction over 5 years; remedial works planned
- Angle:
- "The junction that killed X people — and nothing was done"
- Watch for:
- Data.gov.uk STATS19 data is published; FOI for authority-held correspondence
Environment
Water company sewage discharges (EIR)
- Ask:
- Environment Agency (or water company via EIR)
- Request:
- Combined sewer overflow spill hours and frequency by asset, by year
- Angle:
- "[Water company] discharged sewage into [river] for X hours last year"
- Watch for:
- Commercial interests exemption under EIR reg 12(5)(e); presumption of disclosure — challenge it
Contaminated land register
- Ask:
- Local authority (s.78R Environmental Protection Act 1990)
- Request:
- Entries on the authority's Part IIA contaminated land register; remediation notices served
- Angle:
- "[Site] officially contaminated — residents not informed"
- Watch for:
- Register is a public document; EIR rather than FOIA applies
Central Government
Special adviser spend
- Ask:
- Cabinet Office / individual departments
- Request:
- SpAd salaries, numbers, and cost per department by year
- Angle:
- "Ministers' political advisers cost taxpayers £Xm last year — a record"
- Watch for:
- Cabinet Office publishes annually; FOI for in-year figures or specific roles
Contracts to consultancy firms
- Ask:
- Individual government department
- Request:
- All contracts awarded to management consultancy firms above £10k over 3 years, by value and supplier
- Angle:
- "[Department] spent £Xm on McKinsey/KPMG/Deloitte in three years"
- Watch for:
- S.43 (commercial interests); Contracts Finder may have partial data — use both
Internal review backlogs
- Ask:
- Any government department
- Request:
- Number of outstanding internal review requests; average time to complete; target vs actual
- Angle:
- "[Department] taking X months to process FOI appeals — three times the legal limit"
- Watch for:
- Unlikely to be refused; useful meta-accountability story
Before-you-file checklist
- I have searched WhatDoTheyKnow for prior requests on this topic.
- I have checked whether the data is already published (ONS, NHS Digital, data.police.uk, Contracts Finder).
- I have identified the correct authority (the one that actually holds the data).
- My request asks for specific, defined data — not open-ended document searches.
- I have set a reminder for the 20-working-day deadline from the date of submission.
- I have a plan for internal review and ICO complaint if the request is refused.
- I am tracking this request in my FOI tracker alongside my other outstanding requests.
- For environmental data: I have confirmed whether EIR or FOIA applies to this request.
Draft your FOI request now
Use our FOI Request Builder to turn one of these ideas into a compliant, well-drafted request in under two minutes — ready to send to any UK public authority.
Open FOI Request BuilderCommon mistakes
- Asking for too much at once — broad requests attract s.12 cost-limit refusals. Break them into focused questions.
- Ignoring published data — filing FOI for data that is already on data.gov.uk or NHS Digital wastes 20 working days.
- Not tracking deadlines — authorities routinely miss the 20-working-day limit and journalists fail to chase.
- Accepting the first refusal as final — most successful FOI stories involved at least one internal review.
- Filing via email only and losing the paper trail — use WhatDoTheyKnow or keep a full record of submissions.
- Using EIR requests incorrectly — environmental data has stronger disclosure rights under EIR 2004; use it.
- Forgetting to file follow-up requests — one disclosure often reveals what you should ask next.
Related guides
UK Data Sources Beyond FOI
Open datasets you can use without filing a request.
FOI Tracker Template
Spreadsheet template for managing multiple requests at once.
Building an Investigation Around FOI
Layering FOI with OSINT, Companies House, and interviews.
How to File an FOI Request
Step-by-step guide for any UK public authority.
Primary sources
- Freedom of Information Act 2000 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (legislation.gov.uk)
- WhatDoTheyKnow — search existing FOI requests
- ICO — guide to the Freedom of Information Act
- data.police.uk — published police open data
- NHS Digital — health and care open data
- Contracts Finder — government procurement data
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out which public authority holds the data I want?
Start with WhatDoTheyKnow.com and search for similar requests already filed. The ICO's guidance on which bodies are subject to FOIA is also useful. For NHS data, NHS England and individual Trusts each hold different datasets — the Trust holds operational data, NHS England holds aggregated national figures.
What should I do when an authority claims s.12 cost limit to refuse?
Ask the authority what it would cost to answer a narrower version of your question, and which parts of the request are driving the cost. Then narrow and resubmit. If the authority refuses to engage helpfully, that itself may be a breach of the duty to advise and assist under s.16 FOIA.
Can I file the same FOI to multiple authorities at once?
Yes — and this is one of the most powerful strategies in data journalism. Sending identical requests to all NHS Trusts, all police forces, or all local councils allows you to compare responses and rank them. Use a spreadsheet to track each authority, deadline, and response. Some journalists use WhatDoTheyKnow to file in bulk, though consider the exclusivity trade-off.
Which beats produce the most reliably publishable FOI stories?
Local government, NHS, and police consistently produce strong results because they are well-resourced public authorities with large volumes of data. Environment stories using EIR (rather than FOI) have become increasingly productive since the focus on water company sewage discharges. Central government is slower and more likely to resist, but the stories can be bigger.
How do I anticipate refusals before filing?
Search WhatDoTheyKnow for prior requests on the same topic. If similar requests were refused, read the refusal to understand the exemption claimed. You can then structure your request to reduce the risk, or anticipate the appeal process from the outset and factor that into your timeline.