The first refusal
A routine request for monthly figures came back refused under section 31. The refusal letter cited a series that, by its own reference number, had to exist.
Investigation · filed 12 March
Two years, a hundred and forty-nine requests, and a number nobody wanted to publish.
It began with one refused request in 2024 and ended with a dataset the department had told us four times did not exist. The chronology below is the one we handed to our lawyers before publication.
Internal review, then the Commissioner
The internal review upheld the refusal in nine working days. Our complaint to the Information Commissioner then sat for seven months, which is close to the median for that year.
Decision notice
The Commissioner ordered disclosure of four of the eleven fields. The department appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, then withdrew the appeal eight days before the hearing.
The dataset arrives
Eleven CSV files, 2.3 million rows, postcodes redacted to sector level. Two weeks of reconciliation against the published quarterly totals, which did not match them.
Right of reply, then publication
Ten working days for a response. The department disputed one figure; we corrected it and published the correction alongside the original rather than in place of it.
BodyRequestsReleasedRefusedWon on appeal
Home Office4112297
Ministry of Justice281993
Six police forces63382511
HM Prison & Probation Service174135
Total149737626
The source files, the decision notice and our reconciliation workings are published in full. Nothing in this investigation rests on an anonymous source.