Local government in Britain has been a focus of more than two thirds of all FOI requests. Understanding the impact of FOI on local government is central to a wider understanding of how the Act is working. We set out to measure the performance of FOI against the objectives set for it. Has it improved transparency and accountability? Has it increased public understanding of local decision-making? Has it improved the quality of local decision-making? Has it increased public participation? Has it increased public trust? The study also set out to examine how FOI has interacted with the new structures and ways of working of local government, asking how FOI has impacted upon local political leadership, local accountability, partnership working and local service provision. 1. Interviews with case study authorities; 2. Survey of FOI requesters; 3. Media coding.The UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 is intended to make local authorities more transparent, more participatory, more effective and more responsive to its citizens. Local government has received the majority of FOI requests. Understanding the impact of FOI on local government is central to a wider understanding of how the Act is working. This will be the first systematic study of the objectives, benefits and consequences of FOI for local government. The study will involve a survey FOI requesters, a comparative survey of local authorities in England and interviews with senior managers and officials in fifteen case study local authorities. As the media is a key player in using FOI and shaping wider public perceptions, local, regional and national newspaper coverage of FOI will also be analysed. In addition, the study will examine how has FOI interacted with the wider local government modernisation agenda, in particular political leadership, accountability, service delivery and partnership working. The findings from this study can be compared with the findings from a previous ESRC funded Unit study on the impact of FOI on central government.

Semi-structured interviews with officials and politicians within local authorities as well as a selection of journalists and requesters (some face to face most over the phone). Although originally intended to be recorded many were undertaken over the telephone for convenience of officials and politicians and so notes were taken instead. The recordings also included a great deal of area specific (and identifiable) examples. Surveys of FOI requesters collected via an online survey. Coding of newspaper articles and a selection of appeal cases.