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Section 14 of the Freedom of Information Act allows public bodies to refuse requests they call vexatious. A Ferret review of refusal logs finds the label is often applied at triage, before documents are read, and that the burden test is rarely evidenced in public.
FOI responses from UK councils reveal a fragmented picture of automated decision-making, with some authorities operating detailed policies and others unable to say which tools are in use. Procurement records and supplier contracts suggest the adoption of scoring and triage systems is moving faster than the accountability paperwork around it.
Three phrases do most of the work in keeping UK public documents out of sight. An analysis of 2026 refusal letters shows how standard justifications are applied unevenly between bodies, why they are so hard to challenge, and how readers can test a redaction in five questions.
Most council and NHS procurement deals are won and lost in the boilerplate. These seven clauses recur across public contracts — and each one quietly determines who carries the risk, who controls the money and how much the public gets to see.