https://theferret.info/ Digging into power, one document at a time en Sun, 08 Nov 2026 11:06:02 GMT https://theferret.info/refusal-before-reading-section-14-foi-2026/ https://theferret.info/refusal-before-reading-section-14-foi-2026/ 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. The Ferret Analysis Sun, 08 Nov 2026 08:03:39 GMT https://theferret.info/books-no-assurance-council-audit-disclaimers-2026/ https://theferret.info/books-no-assurance-council-audit-disclaimers-2026/ A disclaimer of opinion means an auditor cannot say whether a council's accounts are accurate. The Ferret's tracker identifies 17 English councils with disclaimers on their latest published accounts, with some audits years behind. The Ferret Investigations Sun, 08 Nov 2026 08:03:39 GMT https://theferret.info/where-conflict-goes-unlogged-council-interest-declarations/ https://theferret.info/where-conflict-goes-unlogged-council-interest-declarations/ A review of 500 councillor declarations across UK local authorities finds registers published in incompatible formats, updated at wildly different speeds, and often missing the basic indexing that would let residents spot a conflict. The system is meant to be a first warning, but in many town halls it behaves like a filing cabinet with no lock and no index. The Ferret Investigations Sun, 08 Nov 2026 04:03:54 GMT https://theferret.info/decision-by-default-council-algorithms-public-minutes/ https://theferret.info/decision-by-default-council-algorithms-public-minutes/ 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. The Ferret Analysis Sun, 08 Nov 2026 04:03:54 GMT https://theferret.info/redaction-boilerplate-commercial-sensitivity-legal-privilege-foi-2026/ https://theferret.info/redaction-boilerplate-commercial-sensitivity-legal-privilege-foi-2026/ 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. The Ferret Analysis Sun, 08 Nov 2026 00:04:04 GMT https://theferret.info/2026-ministerial-meetings-register-ten-meetings-access-westminster/ https://theferret.info/2026-ministerial-meetings-register-ten-meetings-access-westminster/ Cross-referencing the 2026 ministerial meetings register against lobbying disclosures and released diaries shows that access rarely looks like a scandal. It looks like a pattern: the same kinds of organisations, the same quarters, the same omissions. We set out ten encounters that illustrate how the system works. The Ferret Investigations Sun, 08 Nov 2026 00:04:04 GMT https://theferret.info/seven-clauses-uk-public-contracts-highlighter-guide/ https://theferret.info/seven-clauses-uk-public-contracts-highlighter-guide/ 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. The Ferret Analysis Sat, 07 Nov 2026 20:03:55 GMT https://theferret.info/beyond-the-deadline-uk-public-bodies-foi-waiting-times-2026/ https://theferret.info/beyond-the-deadline-uk-public-bodies-foi-waiting-times-2026/ Twenty working days is the legal limit for answering a freedom of information request. In practice, a cluster of departments, councils and quangos routinely take far longer — and the pattern of delay is not random. The Ferret examines the logs, the appeals and what lies behind the hold-ups. The Ferret Investigations Sat, 07 Nov 2026 20:03:55 GMT