Secure Member Research Area
This public page explains the Research & Investigations area. Live member-only research, updates and submissions are accessed through the secure Members server.
Current Research & Investigations
Projects can begin because of member submissions, public concerns, official publications, new data or recurring issues identified across multiple sources.
Decision-Making & Administrative Failures
Looking at how mistakes, inaccurate information and poor decision-making can affect people using public services.
What We're Looking At
Official procedures, complaints, appeals, quality controls, decision-making processes and evidence showing how organisations respond when errors occur.
Public Spending & Contracts
Examining published spending, procurement and contract information connected with public services.
What We're Looking At
Government contracts, council procurement, supplier information, public spending data, FOI responses and official audit material.
Repeated Public-Service Problems
Looking for evidence that similar problems are affecting multiple people rather than being isolated incidents.
What We're Looking At
Repeated experiences, complaints data, appeal outcomes, official reports, regulator findings and evidence showing common patterns.
Completed Research
Completed investigations and research can be moved into an archive for members to revisit and reference.
Research Archive
Completed work can include published evidence, timelines, official sources, findings, campaign outcomes and links to public information.
How Research Develops
We want research to develop in a structured way rather than jumping from an allegation straight to a conclusion.
Issue Identified
A member, public source or official document raises a question worth examining.
Evidence Collected
We gather documents, data, decisions and other relevant material.
Sources Checked
Claims are compared with official and reliable sources where possible.
Patterns Assessed
We look at whether the evidence suggests an individual problem or something wider.
Research Published
Where appropriate, findings can support information, transparency or campaign work.
Official Source Library
Good research should be traceable back to reliable evidence wherever possible.
Government
Departments, official guidance, consultations, policy documents, statistics and publications.
Councils
Council decisions, meeting papers, budgets, contracts, policies and local records.
Parliament
Hansard, committee reports, written questions, legislation and parliamentary research.
Courts & Tribunals
Published judgments, tribunal decisions and other publicly available legal material.
Statistics & Data
Official datasets, administrative data, performance measures and public spending information.
Regulators & Auditors
Inspection reports, regulatory findings, ombudsman reports and audit material.
Evidence We're Looking For
Member contributions can help fill gaps and point researchers towards material that has not yet been identified.
Official Decisions
Decisions or letters that show how a public organisation has interpreted a rule, policy or process.
Submit Document / InformationFOI Responses
Freedom of Information responses that reveal processes, statistics, contracts or internal arrangements.
Submit FOI Response / InformationRepeated Problems
Evidence suggesting that the same problem is affecting more than one person or area.
Tell Us About ItFound Something That Could Help?
Send us an official document, report, data source, decision, public record or other information that may help an existing research project.
Our Research Standards
Right First Time UK should aim to make public-interest research clear, traceable and evidence based.
We should distinguish between official evidence, verified fact, personal testimony, opinion and allegations that still require verification.
Where we rely on statistics, reports or official documents, members should be able to see where that information came from.
Information should not be presented more strongly than the evidence supports.
Personal information, safeguarding concerns, confidential material and legally restricted information should be handled carefully.
Research Member Tools
Use the Members Area to contribute.
Submit Evidence / Information
Send documents, official information and useful sources.
Raise an Issue
Tell us about a problem you think needs investigating.
Campaigns
See how research can develop into wider campaign work.
Have Your Say
Participate in member surveys and consultations.
My Submissions
Track your submitted issues, case references and responses.