Responding to AI-driven demand on public systems How public services can avoid new forms of rationing and turn individual actions into collective benefits.

@alexparsons.bsky.social has been thinking about the increased demand on public systems created by #AI - not just #FOI but for all areas where the public interface with government.

Here's a suggestion for an approach that can work for the public benefit:
www.mysociety.org/2026/04/14/r...

How data might help solve the sewage problem (with a little help from WriteToThem) Have you visited sewagemap.co.uk? If you care about your local rivers, lakes and seas, you might want to take a look at this very graphic display of where sewage is being discharged across England. I...

"Just at a fundamental level it feels wrong for sewage to be going into rivers”: we spoke to @alexlipp.github.io about the importance of open data, and how sewagemap.co.uk uses our WriteToThem service to get people to convince their MPs of that too!

www.mysociety.org/2026/04/16/h...

Something you can do today to defend your local rivers from corporate pollution. We can win this! But we need to keep this horrendous issue in the limelight and put decision makers under pressure.

Thanks to @mysociety.org for this great focus on SewageMap and what we’re doing to make sewage spill data more transparent! (And how the public can apply pressure for even more data!!)

Yes - if you read the blog post it does explain why. The Environment Act doesn’t apply to Scotland or Wales and the data is in a different format.

How data might help solve the sewage problem (with a little help from WriteToThem) Have you visited sewagemap.co.uk? If you care about your local rivers, lakes and seas, you might want to take a look at this very graphic display of where sewage is being discharged across England. I...

"Just at a fundamental level it feels wrong for sewage to be going into rivers”: we spoke to @alexlipp.github.io about the importance of open data, and how sewagemap.co.uk uses our WriteToThem service to get people to convince their MPs of that too!

www.mysociety.org/2026/04/16/h...

Responding to AI-driven demand on public systems How public services can avoid new forms of rationing and turn individual actions into collective benefits.

@alexparsons.bsky.social has been thinking about the increased demand on public systems created by #AI - not just #FOI but for all areas where the public interface with government.

Here's a suggestion for an approach that can work for the public benefit:
www.mysociety.org/2026/04/14/r...

So the theme I want to look at this week is gifts received in a private capacity vs where there's some kind of professional justification

@jennacorderoy.bsky.social of Democracy For Sale points out that while the world has moved on, there are aspects of the #FOI Act which haven't - like requesting information from private companies working on public projects. Listen to the whole conversation: www.mysociety.org/podcast/foi-...

FOI Network: how can we strengthen access to information? The FOI Network is an informal coalition of civil society organisations, journalists and academics with an interest in Freedom of Information, convened by mySociety and State of the Future. Last week,...

How can we protect and expand FOI?

@mysociety.org have written up the first workshop exploring what an FOI Network could do to help www.mysociety.org/2026/04/14/f...

The second workshop, on how a Network could support journalists and specialist users, is... TOMORROW!

Sign up: luma.com/y12euvs2

Eleanor Shaikh discovered FOI when she saw how the Post Office Horizon software was affecting her own local sub Postmaster - if you watched 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office', you'll know what we're talking about.

What Eleanor has achieved with FOI since then is nothing short of remarkable.

The growing case to protect FOI The response from across the FOI community and beyond is clear that restricting access to information is not the answer.

Round up by @juliacushion.bsky.social of the case against restricting FOI www.mysociety.org/2026/04/08/t...

Page describing the new Senedd electoral system

Page listing candidates for the Edinburgh North Western constituency.

Both the Senedd and Scottish Parliament have now dissolved for the upcoming elections - but if you put your postcode into @theyworkforyou.com we're using @democracyclub.org.uk data to tell you more about candidates.

The growing case to protect FOI www.mysociety.org/2026/04/08/t... from @mysociety.org with a round-up of posts pushing back against a recent FT report that the UK Government is considering lowering the cost limit for FOI (which means more requests can be rejected)

#accesstoinfo #opengov #opendata

Amazing what you can do with #FOI - like, uncover a massive national scandal and help see justice done! Eleanor Shaikh was "just" an ordinary person who saw her local sub-postmaster suffering due to the Horizon software issues, so she started asking questions...

A great woman, who quietly rolled up her sleeves years ago and tried to help those impacted by the PO Scandal

How FOI helped unravel to Post Office Horizon Scandal Remember the big Post Office scandal? One person played a massive part in uncovering the evidence that eventually brought the extent of the collusion and malpractice to light. In this lightning talk…

Hear Eleanor's short talk from FOI Fest on our podcast, where we're releasing each session separately - ideal listening on your commute or while washing up or walking the dog! www.mysociety.org/podcast/how-...

#FOI #FOIFest #FreedomofInformation #PostOfficeScandal

Eleanor Shaikh discovered FOI when she saw how the Post Office Horizon software was affecting her own local sub Postmaster - if you watched 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office', you'll know what we're talking about.

What Eleanor has achieved with FOI since then is nothing short of remarkable.

We're looking for a collaborative, efficient, organised, sensitive, kind, experienced user support officer at mySociety

JOB VACANCY: Could you provide excellent support for the users of mySociety's key services, some of whom are taking their first steps into democratic engagement?

Part time, fully remote. Find out more and apply at: apply.workable.com/mysociety/j/...

NO AGENCIES, THANKS!

More than 10 million people have made an #FOI request, says Warren Seddon of @infocommission.bsky.social.

FOI Fest sessions are now available as podcasts - subscribe to hear insights from FOI experts, users & campaigners: www.mysociety.org/podcasts/mys...

#FreedomofInformation

More than 10 million people have made an #FOI request, says Warren Seddon of @infocommission.bsky.social.

FOI Fest sessions are now available as podcasts - subscribe to hear insights from FOI experts, users & campaigners: www.mysociety.org/podcasts/mys...

#FreedomofInformation

Reducing FOI cost limits will reduce government transparency The proposed change would narrow the scope of information rights and undermine promises of greater openness across government.

In response to the anonymously-briefed article in the FT last week floating new restrictions to FOI, Alex Parsons breaks down what’s proposed, and why it’s not a good solution www.mysociety.org/2026/03/19/r...

Reducing FOI cost limits will reduce government transparency The proposed change would narrow the scope of information rights and undermine promises of greater openness across government.

In response to the anonymously-briefed article in the FT last week floating new restrictions to FOI, Alex Parsons breaks down what’s proposed, and why it’s not a good solution www.mysociety.org/2026/03/19/r...

Ok! Some interesting ones to think about this week

How can we tell when AI is actually the right tool for the job? Generative AI is good at solving some kinds of problems, and bad at solving others. With the rush to apply AI approaches across the public and private sector, we want to encourage people to use the ri...

With the rush to deploy #AI in both the public and private sectors, it's essential to stop & ask: 'Is this the right tool for the job?'.

In this blog post, we lay out a simple model for checking just that. www.mysociety.org/2026/03/24/h...

Have written more about what FOI cost limits are, and the effects of lowering them www.mysociety.org/2026/03/19/r...

Government figures are discussing a reduction in the cost ceiling for processing a request as the number of annual submissions has spiralled, according to people familiar with the situation. The soaring number of requests comes against a backdrop of heavily constrained Whitehall budgets, they added.

Officials said that in 2024, the last year for which there is published data, 83,041 requests were received across all monitored bodies in central government — the highest number since monitoring began in 2005. This was an increase of 12,566 requests, or 18 per cent, on the previous year. Ninety per cent of the increase related to the National Archives and the transfer, which is taking place over six years, of about 9.7mn Ministry of Defence historic service personnel records.

Even by the normal standards, a very weak case being made here. Almost all of the increase relates to records moving to the National Archives. www.ft.com/content/2c34...

Making contact: connecting people with their representatives in Wales Making contact: connecting people with their representatives in Wales Helping people in Wales get the right message to the right representatives People across Wales contact their elected representat...

Rydym eisiau clywed gan sefydliadau ymgyrchu a chyngor sy’n gweithio yng Nghymru!
Gall eich mewnbwn helpu pobl yng Nghymru i gael y neges gywir i’r cynrychiolydd cywir. www.mysociety.org/democracy/ma... #cymru

Making contact: connecting people with their representatives in Wales Making contact: connecting people with their representatives in Wales Helping people in Wales get the right message to the right representatives People across Wales contact their elected representat...

We want to hear from campaign & advice organisations who work in #Wales!

We'd like to hear your experiences, so we can learn more about helping people get the right message to the right representative on #WriteToThem.

Please pass this on to any suitable orgs: www.mysociety.org/democracy/ma...

Making contact: connecting people with their representatives in Wales Making contact: connecting people with their representatives in Wales Helping people in Wales get the right message to the right representatives People across Wales contact their elected representat...

Rydym eisiau clywed gan sefydliadau ymgyrchu a chyngor sy’n gweithio yng Nghymru!
Gall eich mewnbwn helpu pobl yng Nghymru i gael y neges gywir i’r cynrychiolydd cywir. www.mysociety.org/democracy/ma... #cymru