Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) establishes a general right of access to information held by Public Authorities, subject to certain exemptions. It places a duty on each Public Authority to maintain a Publication Scheme that describes the information the Authority intends to publish and whether the information will be made available free of charge or on payment.

Customer data and holdings information are updated once the Annual Reports and Accounts for the previous year have been audited and published. Data published across our channels reflects information that is correct as of July 2025. Learn more at the Information Commissioner's Office website

The Act does two main things:

It gives applicants a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, although there are some procedural and substantive limitations.
It requires us to adopt a publication scheme which contains information we routinely make available, and ensure that information is published in accordance with the scheme (see Classes of Information below for more details about what information we publish and where it can be found).

How we'll handle your request

We will provide advice and assistance wherever that would be helpful. We have a statutory obligation to reply within 20 working days. We will tell you if we hold the information you've requested.

Journalists are invited to contact the NS&I media team in the first instance.

NS&I may charge a fee for processing a Freedom of Information access request, which will be payable in advance. The fee will be calculated in line with the fees regulations . Under the Act, fees may be charged in respect of the time spent efficiently locating or copying records, based on a standard hourly rate. View our schedule of charges. No charges will apply in respect of the time spent by NS&I in considering whether information can be released. If a fee is required, the limit of 20 working days will be extended by up to three months until the fee is paid.

Information we can provide

We will provide the information requested unless:

The information is otherwise accessible to you.
To extract the information would take more than three and a half working days – the cost limit under section 12 of the Act.
The information is covered by another absolute exemption under the Act – disclosure would be against the law.
We judge that in all the circumstances it is against the public interest under the Act to disclose it.

If the last judgement is complex, the Act provides for extra time to be taken, and we would notify you if that is needed. We will keep you notified of progress where appropriate and justify any refusal to you.

Requests for information related to environmental matters are likely to be dealt with under the Environmental Information Regulations, which provide very similar rights.

Requests for your own personal data will be dealt with as subject access requests under the Data Protection Act.

Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with the handling or the outcome of your request, you should write to us within two months of the date of your response from NS&I at the above address, asking the FOI team to conduct an internal review.

If we receive such a complaint, we will ensure a fresh look at the entire case and write to you to explain the outcome. We will also tell you how to take your concerns to the Information Commissioner if you remain dissatisfied.

Publication Scheme and Classes of Information

Publication Scheme

Under section 19 of the Act all public authorities, including government departments such as NS&I, are required to adopt and maintain a Model Publication Scheme.

The Information Commissioner has recognised that, since 2002, structured websites have come to perform much of the function that the Publication Scheme was originally intended to fulfil. For NS&I, our websites are the source of most of the information covered by the model publication scheme (see links below in the Classes of Information section).

Where information covered by the model publication scheme is not available on the NS&I website, please make a Freedom of Information request to NS&I.

The model publication scheme defines Classes of Information that authorities should publish.

View information that NS&I should publish on the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Classes of Information

Who we are and what we do

Find information on our organisation, locations, contacts, constitutional and legal governance:

What we spend and how we spend it

Find financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, tendering, procurement and contracts:

What our priorities are and how we are doing

Find information on our strategy, performance, plans, assessments, inspections and reviews:

Policies and procedures

Find information about current policies, decision-making processes, internal criteria and procedures, and consultations:

Lists and registers

Find information held in registers required by law and other lists relating to the functions of NS&I:

Services we offer

Find information on guidance, booklets and leaflets, transactions and media releases:

Re-use of Public Sector Information (ROPSIR)

What are the ROPSIR regulations?

Under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (ROPSIR) , we must make information about our core responsibilities and functions accessible and available for re-use unless it is restricted or excluded from disclosure.

In general, any information that has been published will be made available for re-use.

Do I need to make a request for re-use?

You do not need to ask permission to re-use any accessible information for which the organisation holds the copyright, but you must agree to and comply with the terms of the Open Government Licence (OGL) .

Where information is not released under the OGL, you will need to request permission for re-use under the ROPSIR regulations.

To do this, make a request through the Freedom of Information team via email or post:

Freedom of Information Unit
NS&I
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA

Copyright notice

Most information disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use these documents for your information, including any non-commercial research you may be doing. Documents can also be used for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.

Government officials will have produced most documents published by the Treasury and so the information will be Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright is managed under the Open Government Licence and you can find out details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on the National Archives website .

How to request further information

If your question has not yet been answered

NS&I publishes a lot of information about its products, services and its relationship with HM Treasury. It is possible that the information you seek may already be published and, before making a request, you should check whether we already publish the information you want on this website.

If you cannot find what you require, you can submit a request to: