Keeping tabs on the UK’s parliaments & assemblies
Voting summaries update: July 2025
8 July 2025 @ 4:11 pm
We have completed our quarterly update to the TheyWorkForYou voting summaries and they’re now complete as of the end of March 2025. We’ve added 20 votes to TheyWorkForYou’s voting summaries, covering the first three months of 2025. We’ve also added several votes from the 2019-2024 parliament retrospectively when creating a voting policy in a new…
How FOI can help build a case for pushback
8 July 2025 @ 8:34 am
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen public debate and campaigning around the government’s proposed cuts to PIP — benefits that are intended to ease the additional costs of living that come with being disabled. The Bill was voted through, but only once it was agreed that the proposed changes to PIP eligibility would be…
WhoFundsThem Update: July 2025
2 July 2025 @ 10:33 am
mySociety’s WhoFundsThem work combines technology and volunteers to create better data and visibility on money in politics. We’ve published a report of what we’ve learned, given evidence in Parliament, and made more information available on TheyWorkForYou. This update covers some recently declared freebies, cash for questions paper trails, paid membership of APPGs, and how we…
When MPs/Peers should use FOI rather than Parliamentary Questions
1 July 2025 @ 8:46 am
Parliamentarians (MPs and Peers) have access to two different systems of getting information from the government. As members of Parliament, they can use Parliamentary Questions (PQs) to ask questions and receive information from government ministers. They also have the same rights as everyone else to access information from public authorities through the Freedom of Information…
ATI day in Mechelen
23 June 2025 @ 8:45 am
Transparency is always a strong theme at TICTeC, and since so many members of the Access to Information Network were in town for the conference, we thought we’d take the opportunity to meet up. And so, the day after, several people who run Freedom of Information sites came together in an airy attic room to…
TICTeC 2025: “Energy, open exchanges, and motivation to keep pushing forward tech for democracy”
19 June 2025 @ 12:44 pm
TICTeC is wrapped up for another year. The roller banners are stowed away, the lanyards saved for next year, and now we’re back home from Belgium with memories, insights and enough hope to keep us going ’til next time. It’s always energising to come together with the global civic tech community and share everything we’ve…
How’s your local council doing on climate action?
17 June 2025 @ 8:45 am
The 2025 Scorecards launch today Wondering how your local council’s doing around climate? With today’s launch of the 2025 Council Climate Action Scorecards, you can check their progress right now. And because this is the second edition of Scorecards, you can check not just your council’s scores, but also how they compare with last time.…
Giving evidence on second jobs
5 June 2025 @ 9:58 am
A few weeks ago, I was part of a panel giving evidence to the House of Commons’ Standards Committee on ‘outside employment and interests’ (second jobs). Here’s the video, or the transcript. My evidence was based on our findings and recommendations from our WhoFundsThem project and our Beyond Transparency report. We worked with volunteers to…
Improving transparency from the outside
5 June 2025 @ 9:56 am
As part of our WhoFundsThem project, we released a big report detailing what we learned while working with volunteers to explore the MPs’ Register of Members Financial Interests (RMFI). Many of our recommendations are for changes Parliament should make, but we always want to think about what we can do from the outside to keep…
Tackling the Climate Crisis with Access to Information rights
28 May 2025 @ 2:17 pm
Our hour-long webinar brought together investigative journalist Lucas Amin of Democracy for Sale; Anne Friel, Head of Just Societies at Client Earth; and Joschi Wolf of the German transparency project Frag Den Staat