Introduction to 4982* #

What is 4982* for? #

To help you find out inside information about what the government is doing.

How does the site work? #

You choose the public authority that you would like information from, then write a brief note describing what you want to know. We then send your request to the public authority. Any response they make is automatically published on the website for you and anyone else to find and read.

Why would I bother to do this? #

You pay taxes, and then government does things with the money. All sorts of things that affect your life, from healthcare through to national defence. Some it does badly, some it does well. The more we find out about how government works, the better able we are to make suggestions to improve the things that are done badly, and to celebrate the things that are done well.

Why would the public authority bother to reply? #

Under Freedom of Information (FOI) law, they have to respond. The response will either contain the information you want, or give a valid legal reason why it must be kept confidential.

What if I see a request I feel to be inappropriate? #

Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid for FOI purposes (read more).

If you believe a request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators.

Why won't it let me report some requests? #

If a request has already been reported to the site administrators, you can't report it a second time - this is to prevent the administrators being notified multiple times about the same issue before they've had a chance to conduct a review.

Where a request has been previously reported but an administrator has chosen not to hide it from public view, you can use the form in the sidebar of the request page to contact the administrators if you still think it should be hidden.

Who makes 4982* ? #

4982* runs on Alaveteli, which was created and run by mySociety, a registered charity, and was initially funded by the JRSST Charitable Trust. If you like what we're doing, then you can make a donation.

How can I keep up with news about 4982*?#

We have a blog and a twitter feed.

Next, read about making requests -->