MY POWER

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you have the legal right to request any recorded information held by a public authority in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (Scotland has its own Act). This covers councils, the NHS, police forces, government departments, and schools.

• You can request emails, meeting minutes, spending data, contracts, correspondence, internal reports—anything recorded.
• They must respond within 20 working days. Not 'when they get round to it.' Twenty days.
• They can refuse on limited grounds (national security, personal data, commercial sensitivity)—but they must explain why.
• If they refuse, you appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for free. The ICO can order disclosure.

Before you write your own FOI, search here first. WhatDoTheyKnow is a free, public archive of hundreds of thousands of FOI requests and responses. Someone may have already asked your question.

• Every request and response is published permanently.
• You can submit your own FOI through the site—it handles the tracking for you.
• Search by authority, keyword, or topic. It is remarkably thorough.

Do not go to heckle. Go to record. Take notes of who said what, when, and in front of whom. Minutes become evidence. Evidence becomes leverage.

• Write down exact quotes with timestamps.
• Note who was present and who was absent.
• If a promise is made publicly, record it word for word. That promise is now on the record.
• Share your notes. If three people in the room kept notes, that is corroboration.

Yes, you can film council meetings. No, they cannot stop you.

The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 gives the public the right to film, audio record, photograph, and use social media at any meeting of a local government body. This is law, not courtesy.

• You do not need permission. You do not need to ask in advance.
• If a council officer asks you to stop, calmly cite the 2014 Regulations.
• You may be asked not to film members of the public who object—this is reasonable. But the councillors and officers are fair game.

• First meeting: Agree on one objective. Not five. One.
• Assign three roles: Chair (runs meetings), Secretary (keeps notes), Spokesperson (talks to media).
• Name it something boring. 'Save Our Green Space' beats 'Revolutionary Front'. You want sympathy, not surveillance.
• Meet in a pub, a church hall, or someone's front room. Not online. Presence builds trust.

How to avoid internal politics killing momentum: If anyone tries to expand the mission before the first one is won, politely refuse. Focus is everything.

• WhatsApp for quick coordination (but it leaks—assume anything posted is public).
• Signal for sensitive discussions. End-to-end encrypted. No screenshots notification, but better than nothing.
• Email for formal records. Always confirm decisions in writing.
• The golden rule: No group chat with more than 15 people. After that, noise kills signal.

• 15 minutes. Same day, same time, every week.
• Three questions: What did we do? What is next? Who is doing it?
• Rotate the chair monthly. One-person dependency is the fastest way to kill a campaign.
• If someone is burning out, they rest. No guilt. This is a relay, not a sprint.

Do not try to build a movement alone. The Women's Institute, the church group, the allotment society, the residents' association—they all have networks and credibility you cannot build from scratch.

• You do not need them to agree on everything. Just this one thing.
• A coalition letter signed by six local groups is worth more than a petition signed by six hundred strangers.
• Approach them formally. Write a letter. Attend their meeting. Respect their processes.

Most planning committees give residents three minutes. That is not much. Make every second count.

• Open with who you are and where you live. Establish standing.
• State facts first, feelings second. 'The flood data shows…' before 'We are frightened.'
• End with a specific ask: 'I ask the committee to defer this application pending…'
• Do not argue with the chair. You are speaking to the committee members, not having a debate.

Still read. Still quoted. Still matter. Your local paper's letters page is often the most-read section.

• Formula: Local angle + evidence + ask. Three paragraphs maximum.
• Use your real name. Anonymous letters carry less weight.
• Respond to stories already in the paper. Editors prefer letters that continue a conversation.

• Stop preaching to the choir. If everyone in your replies already agrees, you are not reaching anyone new.
• One issue, one hashtag. Do not muddy it.
• Screenshot everything. Posts get deleted. Statements get walked back. Screenshots are forever.
• Tag local journalists and councillors. They monitor their mentions. Use that.

• Venue: Somewhere neutral and accessible. Church hall, library, community centre. Not the pub.
• Timing: Weekday evening, 7pm. Not during school run, not late.
• Chair the meeting tightly. One person speaks at a time. Nobody gets more than two minutes.
• Have a sign-up sheet. The meeting is the start—not the event itself but the people you collect.