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FOI League Table: Central Government Transparency

41 bodies tracked 84.9% avg on-time 21 below 90% target 1 at 100%

How open is your government department? This table ranks central government bodies by their Freedom of Information performance, using official Cabinet Office quarterly statistics. The statutory deadline for FOI responses is 20 working days.

Sort by: On-time % ↓ On-time % ↑ Volume ↓ Granted in full ↓ Withheld ↓ ICO complaints ↓ Transparency rating ↓

Performance ranking

Click any body to add/remove from the chart below
★ # Body Requests On Time % Trend Granted in Full Withheld ICO Complaints Int. Reviews
○ 🥇 Debt Management Office 44 100.0% — 61.8% 5.9% — 1
○ 🥈 Office of Rail and Road 118 99.2% ▼ -0.8 73.3% 14.4% — 4
○ 🥉 National Savings and Investments 97 99.0% ▲ 0.3 71.6% 3.7% — 2
○ 4 Scotland Office 254 97.2% ▼ -1.3 40.5% 44.6% — 12
○ 5 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 1209 96.8% ▲ 0.1 19.3% 58.0% 21 84
○ 6 Department for Work and Pensions 2624 96.7% ▼ -0.4 47.3% 46.0% 57 194
○ 7 Office for National Statistics 704 96.0% ▼ -0.2 63.9% 28.0% 2 10
○ 8 Wales Office 116 94.8% ▲ 1.4 84.3% 7.9% — 3
○ 9 Health and Safety Executive 3966 94.2% ▲ 3.5 38.0% 41.5% 19 100
○ 10 Rural Payments Agency 335 94.0% ▲ 1.1 35.0% 24.4% 1 9
○ 11 Attorney General's Office 198 93.9% ▼ -0.6 61.6% 22.1% 4 13
○ 12 Food Standards Agency 238 93.7% ▼ -1.1 62.1% 17.0% 1 8
○ 13 Government Legal Department 269 93.3% ▲ 8.1 36.0% 29.1% 4 14
○ 14 Department for Transport 3117 92.8% ▲ 0.6 54.3% 26.9% 24 134
○ 15 Water Services Regulation Authority 160 92.5% ▼ -1.9 50.9% 31.0% — 2
○ 16 Serious Fraud Office 87 92.0% ▲ 3.8 12.9% 71.0% 3 12
○ 17 HM Revenue and Customs 2135 91.6% ▼ -2.9 37.2% 51.6% 22 129
○ 18 Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills 573 90.8% ▼ -0.3 22.1% 53.4% 12 25
○ 19 Office of Gas and Electricity Markets 829 90.7% ▼ -2.8 57.1% 19.1% 11 44
○ 20 UK Export Finance 111 90.1% ▲ 5.8 33.7% 36.1% 2 11
○ 21 HM Land Registry 387 89.7% ▲ 8.0 39.5% 31.7% 3 31
○ 22 Ministry of Justice 4693 89.6% ▲ 1.2 41.3% 43.9% 61 316
○ 23 Competition and Markets Authority 142 88.7% — 36.8% 32.3% — 11
○ 24 Department of Health and Social Care 1665 88.2% ▲ 4.4 35.4% 35.3% 41 138
○ 25 Crown Prosecution Service 761 87.6% ▲ 2.2 33.8% 58.2% 15 54
○ 26 Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 1050 86.0% ▲ 6.8 18.5% 57.0% 21 32
○ 27 Charity Commission 1648 85.4% ▼ -3.3 10.1% 19.4% 3 69
○ 28 Home Office 6264 84.8% ▲ 2.1 45.2% 40.9% 112 441
○ 29 HM Treasury 1193 83.7% ▼ -0.6 25.7% 47.7% 36 87
○ 30 Cabinet Office 2034 79.9% ▲ 2.3 24.4% 54.9% 134 248
○ 31 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 705 77.6% ▲ 11.2 45.0% 27.4% 12 44
○ 32 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 756 77.5% — 34.4% 44.3% 18 54
○ 33 Ministry of Defence 5010 77.1% ▼ -3.3 42.0% 35.0% 37 198
○ 34 Northern Ireland Office 233 75.5% ▼ -8.9 63.7% 18.1% — 12
○ 35 Department for Education 2593 72.6% ▼ -1.6 58.4% 21.8% 18 81
○ 36 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero 477 71.7% — 37.5% 29.0% 4 31
○ 37 Department for Business and Trade 437 70.3% — 29.0% 34.5% 12 44
○ 38 Department for International Trade 276 60.5% ▲ 19.4 25.5% 41.7% 4 18
○ 39 National Archives 21366 52.5% ▲ 0.9 17.0% 19.7% 14 319
○ 40 Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 239 50.2% — 27.1% 22.2% 6 11
○ 41 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office 1362 42.4% ▼ -8.4 20.4% 43.3% 32 122

Quarterly on-time % trend

Last 3 years · click any row above to add/remove · dashed line = 90% target

Methodology & notes

How these numbers are calculated
  • Source: Cabinet Office FOI statistics (quarterly publication, collected by the Ministry of Justice prior to 2023)
  • Statutory deadline: 20 working days under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
  • "On time" rate: Excludes responses where a permitted public interest test extension was applied
  • Annual figures: Sum/average of all four quarters for the selected year
  • Trend: Percentage point change in on-time rate vs. the previous year
  • ICO complaints: Complaints received by the Information Commissioner's Office about this body's FOI responses

Data covers approximately 75 central government bodies. Local authorities, NHS trusts, police forces and other bodies subject to FOI are not included in this table.