The Ferret Digging into power, one document at a time

The Ferret

Digging into power, one document at a time

Latest Articles

The Door That Swings Both Ways: Ten Meetings From the 2026 Lobbying Data That Explain How Westminster Access Is Actually Brokered
Investigations

The Door That Swings Both Ways: Ten Meetings From the 2026 Lobbying Data That Explain How Westminster Access Is Actually Brokered

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.
Seven Clauses Worth a Highlighter: The Small Print That Shapes UK Public Contracts
Analysis

Seven Clauses Worth a Highlighter: The Small Print That Shapes UK Public Contracts

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.
Beyond the Deadline: The UK Public Bodies That Keep FOI Requesters Waiting Longest
Investigations

Beyond the Deadline: The UK Public Bodies That Keep FOI Requesters Waiting Longest

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.