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Folio
How Folio works

A public record you can check, line by line

Folio indexes what UK public bodies publish and joins it on the identifiers those bodies use. This page explains the method, what each tool is for, and how to run the investigations people ask for most.

Method

Five rules that never bend

These constraints decide what Folio will and will not show you.

  1. Evidence firstEvery statement on a Folio page traces to a record a public body published. There is no editorial layer.
  2. Joined on identifiersRecords are connected by company numbers, MNIS ids, UPRNs, GSS codes and contract references — never by name similarity.
  3. No inferenceFolio does not score, rank by importance, predict, summarise or generate. What you read is what was published.
  4. Absence is statedWhere a record is missing, the page says whether nothing was published, nothing was imported, or nothing was joined.
  5. CheckablePublisher, licence, version and import run are recorded against every source, so any page can be audited or challenged.
Start here

Six ways in

Pick the one that matches what you already have in hand. Each opens a directory that leads to a dossier.

Glossary

What each tool is, and what it is for

Folio uses a small, fixed vocabulary. Every tool means the same thing on every page.

SearchOpen
One index across people, organisations, companies, contracts, planning and parliamentary records.
Start here when you have a name, a company number, a constituency or a contract reference.
DossierOpen
Everything published against one entity, arranged in fixed movements from identity to provenance.
Use it to establish what is on the record about a single person, body or company.
TimelineOpen
Every dated record held against an entity, newest first, tagged with the domain that published it.
Use it to see sequence — what happened before what, and where the gaps are.
NetworkOpen
A graph of connections published against shared identifiers. Nothing is inferred from names.
Use it to move from one entity to the next along evidence, not assumption.
EvidenceOpen
The underlying source records, grouped by the body that published them.
Use it to open and cite the document behind any figure on a page.
CoverageOpen
A per-dataset statement of what has been imported, from when, and what is missing.
Use it before treating an absence of records as an absence of activity.
CollectionsOpen
Standing sets of records assembled by fixed, published rules over the corpus.
Use them as ready-made starting points on procurement, Parliament and local government.
InvestigationsOpen
Your own case files: saved entities and records with notes, kept attached to their sources.
Use them to build a case you can export with citations intact.
WatchlistsOpen
Entities you follow, checked against new imports.
Use them to be told when the public record moves, rather than checking by hand.
CalendarOpen
Dated public events — consultations closing, sittings, deadlines — drawn from publisher records.
Use it to work forward from a date rather than backward from an entity.
ProvenanceOpen
Publisher, licence, version and import run recorded against every source.
Use it to verify or challenge anything Folio states.
Reading a dossier

Why the page is ordered the way it is

Every entity page runs in the same order, so once you can read one you can read all of them.

  1. IdentityConfirms you are looking at the right entity before you rely on anything else on this page.
  2. What we've establishedStates what the held records already establish, and what they do not, before you draw a conclusion.
  3. Where to look nextFixed routes out of this entity, walked only as far as the held records allow.
  4. Recent changesTells you whether this entity is currently active, and what moved most recently.
  5. TimelinePlaces every dated record in sequence, which is how patterns and gaps become visible.
  6. RelationshipsShows who this entity connects to through published identifiers — the route to the next entity.
  7. EvidenceThe underlying source records, grouped by the body that published them.
  8. CoverageStates what is imported and what is missing, so an absence is never mistaken for a fact.
  9. ProvenanceNames the publisher, licence and import run behind every record, so the page can be checked.
Recipes

Run the investigations people actually ask for

Each recipe is a fixed sequence over published records, with the limits of the source data stated up front.

Who owns this company?

Companies House publishes officers and persons with significant control against a company number.

  1. Find the companySearch the name or company number.
  2. Open the dossierConfirm the company number before reading anything else.
  3. Read the connectionsOfficers and persons with significant control appear as published connections.
  4. Follow each personOpen a person to see every other company they are recorded against.
  5. Check coverageConfirm the filing history imported before treating a blank as an absence.

Limits · Ownership below the PSC threshold, and ownership held offshore, is not published to Companies House.

Who won this public contract?

Contracts Finder and Find a Tender publish notices, awards, buyers, suppliers and values.

  1. Open procurementFilter by buyer, supplier or value.
  2. Read the awardThe notice names the contracting authority and the awarded supplier.
  3. Open the supplierMove to the company dossier behind the supplier name.
  4. Check the officersOfficers and PSCs show who stands behind the supplier.
  5. Cite the noticeProvenance gives the publisher, licence and import run.

Limits · Below-threshold spending and sub-contracting are frequently not published as notices.

How did my MP vote?

UK Parliament publishes division records naming every member and lobby.

  1. Find the memberSearch a name or constituency.
  2. Open political activityDivisions, questions and committee membership are grouped there.
  3. Open a divisionEach division lists the question put and the recorded lobbies.
  4. Check interestsRegistered financial interests are published separately and shown on the dossier.

Limits · Voice votes and unrecorded divisions leave no per-member record to publish.

What was approved near here?

Local planning authorities publish applications, decisions and dates against addresses and UPRNs.

  1. Open councilsChoose the local planning authority.
  2. Read planning decisionsApplications carry an applicant, a date and a decision.
  3. Open the applicantWhere the applicant is a company, move to its dossier.
  4. Check donations and contractsElectoral Commission and procurement records are joined on the same company.

Limits · Planning coverage differs by authority; check the coverage statement for the council you are reading.

Who has been meeting ministers?

Departments publish quarterly transparency returns naming ministers, organisations and purposes.

  1. Open ministerial meetingsReturns are grouped by department and quarter.
  2. Open the organisationMove from the named organisation to its company dossier.
  3. Check lobbyingConsultant lobbying registrations are published separately.
  4. Check contractsAwards to the same organisation appear under procurement.

Limits · Transparency returns are published in arrears and describe purpose only in broad terms.

Where does this council's money go?

Councils publish spend over £500, contract awards and grant payments.

  1. Open the councilStart from the authority dossier.
  2. Read public moneyContracts and spending records are grouped by publisher.
  3. Open the supplierFollow a repeated supplier into Companies House records.
  4. Check the coverageSpend publication is inconsistent between authorities.

Limits · Payments under the publication threshold, and redacted lines, are not in the published data.

Limits

What Folio cannot tell you

Stated plainly, because the alternative is a reader mistaking a gap for a fact.

  • Folio holds no private records. If a body did not publish it, it is not here.
  • Publication practice differs between bodies, so coverage is uneven — check the coverage statement.
  • A connection only exists where two records share a published identifier. Real relationships that were never published are invisible.
  • Folio does not allege wrongdoing, rank importance, or draw conclusions. That work is yours.

Guidance engine guided-investigation-v1 · Full methodology