FOI enforcement starved while ministers explore narrowing the Act

Monitored bodies received 94,526 FOI requests in 2025 (a record, up 14%) while the ICO's FOI budget has been cut 41% in real terms over a decade as its caseload rose 46%; FOI enforcement is funded via a sponsoring department rather than Parliament. In March 2026, ministers discussed lowering the section 12 cost ceiling, making refusal easier, not access better. mySociety's report warns FOI risks 'sliding into obsolescence'; the Act still does not cover private contractors delivering public services, and ministerial use of WhatsApp and ephemeral messaging continues to evade records duties. openDemocracy exposed the Cabinet Office 'Clearing House' vetting requests; the Campaign for FOI and mySociety campaign but cannot fix funding or scope.

FOI is the corruption-detection infrastructure every other actor depends on: VIP-lane contracts, Clearing House vetting and lobbying scandals were all surfaced through it. A regulator that cannot enforce timeliness, plus a shrinking cost ceiling, quietly deletes the public's primary audit tool.

Direct parliamentary funding for FOI regulation (or a separately funded Information Commission FOI arm), statutory extension of FOI to outsourced public services, an enforceable duty to preserve official communications including ephemeral messaging, and abandonment of section 12 cost-ceiling reductions.

// State-led: Instrument: direct parliamentary funding for FOI regulation plus statutory extension to outsourced public services.

Ministers are actively moving to narrow the Act this year while its regulator's budget is cut 41%; the public's primary corruption-detection tool erodes with only NGOs defending it.