Most Freedom of Information requests do not fail because the authority is hiding something. They fail because the request was too wide, went to the wrong body, or asked a question nobody had ever written down. Fix those three things and the process stops feeling like a fight and starts feeling like ordering stationery.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, public authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must confirm whether they hold recorded information and normally supply it within 20 working days. Scotland runs its own regime under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, policed by the Scottish Information Commissioner, so send Scottish requests under that. What follows is practical guidance, not legal advice. If a refusal starts to look like a genuine legal dispute, take proper advice.

Do your homework before you type

Start in the disclosure log. Most councils, police forces, NHS trusts and government departments publish previous FOI responses, along with spending data, contract registers and board papers. Twenty minutes there can save you a month of waiting for something you could have downloaded.

If you are not sure who holds the record, ring the press office and ask. Which team keeps it? What is it called? How far back does it go? Asking who owns a file is housekeeping, not a tip-off, and it stops your request being bounced between four departments while the clock runs.

Ask for documents, not answers

FOI gives you recorded information. An authority does not have to answer a question, do arithmetic, or create a document that does not exist. "How many staff were investigated for X?" invites the reply that the data is not held in a searchable format. "Please provide the log of internal investigations opened in 2024, including dates, allegations and outcomes, in spreadsheet form" is far harder to dodge.

Add a line at the end: "If part of this is exempt, please release the remainder." That pushes them towards partial disclosure rather than a blanket refusal. Ask for registers, spreadsheets, schedules and decision notes. You want the records, not the reasoning.

Narrow it until it clears the cost limit

Authorities can refuse on cost grounds, and plenty do. The limit is normally £450 for councils, police forces, NHS bodies and most other public authorities — 18 hours of staff time at £25 an hour — and £600 for central government departments and a few comparable bodies. Once you are over the limit, your request is refused rather than trimmed.

Narrowing tactics that work:

• Fix a short date range. Ask for three months before you ask for three years.
• Name a team or directorate rather than the whole organisation.
• Ask for the summary table or the underlying spreadsheet, not every individual file.
• Split a large request into stages and send the second only after the first lands.
• Cut anything you already half know — it still costs you time and them.

Public authorities also have a duty to advise and assist. If you are nudging over the limit, ring the FOI officer, say so, and ask what would fit. Most will tell you, because answering a tight request is less work than defending a refusal.

The five lines every request needs

You do not need a covering essay. You need precision and a paper trail. Include:

1. What you want. Name the document, dataset or register as specifically as you can.
2. The date range. Calendar dates, not "recently".
3. The format. "If held electronically, in CSV or Excel" saves weeks of retyping.
4. A partial disclosure line, so exemptions cannot be used to withhold the lot.
5. A contact and a preferred reply route, ideally an address that is not a shared newsdesk inbox.

Keep the tone flat and neutral. A line explaining the public interest can help when they are weighing a qualified exemption, but a paragraph accusing them of secrecy usually just hardens the position. Journalists have no special rights here — the Act is applicant-blind — so make the request easy to say yes to.

Track the clock and chase early

Twenty working days means twenty working days. Weekends and bank holidays do not count. If they come back asking for clarification, the clock typically pauses, so reply the same day with a short, specific answer. Log the deadline in your diary the moment you send, and chase on day fifteen rather than day twenty-one. A polite nudge asking for a reference number and an expected date is often enough.

Internal review, then the regulator

If you get a refusal, a fee notice or a pile of blacked-out pages, ask for an internal review. Say plainly which exemption you are challenging and why, and keep it to a page. Authorities should complete reviews promptly, generally within 20 working days, though some are slower.

If the review upholds the refusal, complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. It is free, it is independent, and its decision notices are published — occasionally a story in themselves. Be warned that it can take months. Beyond that, there is the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights), where you can argue the case again; check the current procedure and any fees before you commit.

Two things worth remembering. A refusal upheld today is not always upheld next year, and a slightly different request often succeeds where the original failed. Do not treat one "no" as the end of the story.

When FOI is the wrong tool

Environmental information — pollution, planning, land, emissions, waste — falls under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, which are broader and come without the same cost ceiling. Information about you personally is a subject access request, not FOI. And a fair amount of what journalists want already sits in public registers: planning applications, Companies House filings, contract registers, spending over £500, licensing committee papers. Check those first. It is faster, and it gives you a document you can quote without waiting for anyone's permission.

A pre-send checklist

• Is this the right body, and the right team within it?
• Have I checked the disclosure log and published datasets?
• Am I asking for documents rather than answers?
• Would a reasonable FOI officer estimate this at under 18 hours?
• Have I included dates, format and a partial disclosure line?
• Have I diarised the deadline for 20 working days' time?
• Do I know what I will do if the answer is a refusal?

Send it, screenshot it, and note the date. The best FOI requests are boring to read and impossible to ignore.

Photo: Ono Kosuki / Pexels