Information finder in detail
Information finder tells you who to contact to get information that was not originally intended for the public or other stakeholders, particularly:
- internal information
- information only available in printed format
- information held on internal IT systems such as the DWP intranet or local servers.
Information finder covers information from all parts of DWP, its agencies and subsidiary bodies. It excludes information from affiliated non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) who are required to maintain their own publication schemes.
DWP published information
DWP provides free access to its published information on this website and elsewhere. This includes:
- leaflets
- booklets and guides to services
- policy and corporate publications
- research, analysis and statistics
- consultation documents
- claim forms and associated guidance
- impact assessments
- specialist and technical information aimed at professional practitioners and other stakeholders such as employers.
You can use the Electronic archive to find older published information that has been removed from the website.
You can find more published information from other DWP websites and by using the links page on this website.
Legal background
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (s19) makes it a requirement for all Public Authorities to proactively make information available in accordance with its model Publication Scheme (52KB) 
. This is intended to enable the public to access large quantities of information without the need for a specific FOI request.
Excluded information
We do not have to make the following information available.
Information where disclosure is barred under statute or exempt under the Freedom of Information Act
Information which is normally excluded under the FOI act and other legislation is exempt.
Information in draft form
Only ‘final’ versions of documents are expected to be proactively made available.
Information considered to be archived
This does not necessarily include departmental archives, but refers to information which is no longer ‘current’ such as minutes of meetings over five years old. These could be subject to a specific FOI request but are not expected to be made available proactively.
Information which cannot be straightforwardly made available by the public authority
This includes information which needs to be processed, synthesised or re-packaged in order for it to be sent out to members of the public. Only ‘finished documents’ need to be proactively published.
More information
If you cannot find the information you are looking for here or in other sections of the DWP website, go to our Freedom of Information pages for details about how to make a request.
For more information about Freedom of Information and Publication Schemes, visit the Information Commissioner’s website.