Lisa Nandy: In a rare moment of agreement, I agree with the hon. Gentleman that the gambling industry brings joy to a lot of people. He and I have discussed the harms that affect a minority of people. They are significant and important, but the industry as a whole brings positive benefits to the United Kingdom. I think he is underplaying the significant pressures on high street businesses that have existed over the last couple of decades—something that, frankly, his Government did absolutely nothing about over the 14 years that they were in government. We are dealing with those.

Yougov polling on perceptions of the gambling industry - 43% very unfavorable

Really worth stressing what a minority position "the gambling industry is good" is.

And this is really the core of the mySociety approach through WhatDoTheyKnow or FixMyStreet - by making FOI requests or pothole reports visible in public, it transforms private interactions into collective benefits that reduce the need for future interactions.

Super smart stuff from @alexparsons.bsky.social (as always) here!

Mike Wood Opposition Whip (Commons), Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office) To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to uprate Freedom of Information Act cost thresholds. dChris Ward The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office The cost thresholds above which public authorities are not obliged to comply with a Freedom of Information request are set out in secondary legislation. Any changes to FOI legislation will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.

Response to a Parliamentary question from Mike Wood about the floated change to FOI cost limits www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?q=%2...

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

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 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...

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.

The growing case to protect FOI www.mysociety.org/2026/04/08/t...

Great summary by @juliacushion.bsky.social of responses to recent threats to freedom of information

We, @mysociety.org & others are exploring what an FOI Network could look like

Next online workshop: Wed 15 April luma.com/y12euvs2

great part time role going here at @mysociety.org! feel free to dm any questions etc! 🌀

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...

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 spent over £1m on court cases to keep information secret Whitehall departments spent seven-figure sum on legal fees to fight Freedom of Information requests

In yesterday's FT anonymous government officials talked of need to 'tighten' to FOI to stop China (!?!)

The real story, though, is how much govt spending on legal fees to fight FOI requesters in court

Campaigners, citizens, journalists all paying price
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/government...

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...

Yep, only increasing the income threshold it gets paid back at would actually make a real difference to my cost of living, especially the lower threshold for the postgrad loan bsky.app/profile/juli...

Pitching for a new crackdown on transparency? The China excuse Within freedom of information practice, national security has always been a key consideration, and you will really struggle to get information that could in any way risk national security, whatever…

Great points from @georgegreenwood.bsky.social here relightmyfoia.blog/2026/03/18/p...

To fix Parliament, fix the Public Ombudsman Dare to dream of a world where you can complain to the ombudsman without complaining to your MP first.

Re last RT: making the ombudsman a good tool for systematic investigation (with good links to casework, but not an MP filter) - would be a good idea www.mysociety.org/2024/12/04/t...

It’s been a remarkable few weeks and this morning we’ve just hit 300 pledges 👏🏼

We wanted to share some of the messages we’ve received along the way. They’ve meant a huge amount.

Ok, so a few things to flag this week on foreign trips and freebies:

More on our open letter collection www.mysociety.org/2025/10/21/s...

“Freedom of information only works if you can find it”

So why don’t gov depts proactively publish it? Then they won’t need to respond to requests.

#FOIFest

The afternoon session of #FOIFest kicks off with the Scottish Information Commissioner 👇

Top tips - explain why you want the info. Don’t be afraid to show your credentials. As George said, keep a good spreadsheet. #FOIFest

Number 1 - don’t be afraid to appeal if you think you’re onto something. The system is there to use.
Number 2 - play the long game. Focus requests on something that will still be a story in 12-18 months. #FOIFest

"Corruption prospers when there's an information asymmetry" @rosewhiff.bsky.social #FOIFest

Now @rosewhiff.bsky.social from @anticorruption.bsky.social explaining her aspect is broader, how #FOI fits into an anti corruption toolbox. FOI has shifted public expectations around transparency and built momentum to better govt transparency. #FOIFest

Maurice Frankel talking about the significance of the FOI Act coming into fruition 21 years ago

And amusing anecdotes about the resistance of some in government back then to new resultant powers

#FOIFest

A cluster of signs stating the importance of FOI

Reception desk all set up, with mySociety staff behind it

We’re all ready for #FOIFest! Stay tuned for conference photos and highlights ✨

It's #FOIFest day! I'm out front wearing bright green, you can't miss me!

This is an absolutely fascinating article.

Itching for there to be deep analysis across MPs case loads. So much that could be learned for improving public services. @alexparsons.bsky.social nails it when talking about failure demand.