Evidence-informed campaigning

Successful campaigns use evidence to prove both that there is a problem, and that there is a policy solution that solves the problem. Our services can help you build this evidence base for successful campaigning.

WhatDoTheyKnow

WhatDoTheyKnow simplifies the process of making Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to UK public authorities. We publish all requests and responses, creating a searchable public archive.

Key features:

  • Build your own database: submit FOI requests easily to a wide range of public authorities without needing legal expertise.
  • Use existing data: search the database to find previously released information quickly.
  • Expert support: get help on writing requests and handling refusals.

Case study: EPC Ratings of Council Homes

For the Council Climate Action Scorecards project, Climate Emergency UK sent around 4,000 FOI requests to UK local authorities. These were all asking for data which couldn’t be obtained by other means. These requests, which were worded very specifically, allowed the team to compile data on:

  • Councils’ staffing levels for climate and implementing Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG);
  • The average energy efficiency (EPC) ratings of council homes and the enforcement of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES);
  • Whether councillors and management were receiving carbon literacy training;
  • Whether the councils were lobbying their devolved national government, or the UK government, for further powers or funding.

As well as giving vital information that fed into the Scorecards project, the request about EPC ratings resulted in an exclusive [paywalled] on page two of the Financial Times.

Want to build your own dataset? We have a blog and webinar which talks you through the process step-by-step.

Back to top

Local Intelligence Hub

We’ve worked with The Climate Coalition to create the Local Intelligence Hub. This platform allows users to analyse and explore data about local MPs, constituencies, councils, public opinion, and the climate and nature movement.

Key features:

  • Build your own maps to visualise your campaign.
  • Create custom tables to compare constituencies and datasets that matter to you.
  • Export data as CSV to combine with your own data.
  • Deep-dive on individual areas to build constituency and council profiles.

Case study: Leeds City Council Profile

  • The area has a strong mandate for climate action. MRP polling suggests we’d see 88% of Leeds residents support onshore wind compared to an 83.5% national average, and just 10% oppose net zero compared to a 12% national average.
  • Leeds City Council is doing better than most councils, but could be doing more. It scored 53% on the Climate Action Scorecards, gaining its highest scores in Planning and Land Use, but with the biggest room for improvement on Transport.
  • Emissions are huge, but so is the population. Leeds City Council serves 798,786 residents compared to the average of 307,712. According to Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) data, Leeds City Council has influence over 2,822 kilotons of CO₂ emissions, which is more than twice the national average of 1,168.3.
  • There’s an active climate movement. In Leeds city there were more Great Big Green Week events than average in both 2022 and 2023.

Back to top

TheyWorkForYou

TheyWorkForYou makes it easy to understand what happens in all of the UK’s parliaments. You can find your MP’s profile, track parliamentary debates, look at speaking and voting records, search their register of interests, and set up alerts for updates on specific issues or politicians.

Key features:

  • Deep-dive into a particular MP — read speeches and statements made by MPs to gauge their positions on various issues.
  • Research contributions on a particular topic — review written and oral questions posed by MPs and the responses they receive.
  • Track bill progress — follow the progress of bills through Parliament, including debates, amendments, and votes.

Case study: What are the questions MPs ask that don’t get answered?

Sometimes, MPs ask the government questions about strange things, like jobs for clowns. But most are extremely serious, covering the issues that affect MPs’ constituents. And overall, they tell us what MPs need to know.

Anna and the team at the Centre for Public Data scraped 200,000 written questions in Parliament from December 2019 to February 2023 from TheyWorkForYou. They flagged questions asking for quantitative information, with phrases like “how many” or “how much” — which showed that about a fifth of questions wanted data, just under 40,000.

Then they flagged questions where the government apparently said the data was “not held”, “not collected”, etc. About a quarter of quantitative questions were answered like this. They ended up with a dataset of around 10,000 questions where MPs apparently both (i) asked for data, and (ii) were told it was not available. After they spot-checked, they published the full dataset.

Other than Covid-related topics, the major topics with the highest proportion of unanswered questions were:

  • Benefits — grouping together benefits like Universal Credit and PIP
  • Asylum, refugees and migrants
  • Child maintenance
  • Energy meters
  • Armed forces housing

Back to top

Back to top