Public interest analysis
Some questions belong to the public. DDA takes them.
Public institutions make decisions that affect many people. They publish reports, budgets, rules, decisions, and statistics about those decisions. Almost nobody reads that record as a whole. DDA does. When the record shows something that the public has a stake in, DDA does the analysis and publishes it.
01 What DDA does
DDA reads what public bodies publish, across years and departments, as one system. We compare what an institution says it does with what its records show it produces. We trace each public claim to its primary source. We follow a rule from the page where someone writes it to the case where someone applies it.
Then we report what the record supports, what it contradicts, and what it leaves open. The report shows its work. A reader can start from any figure and reach the source in one step.
02 Questions DDA takes
A regulator reports many findings and few penalties. The record can show if the cause is design, resources, or the data itself.
A public fund holds a large surplus while a rate stays flat for years. The arithmetic shows what that implies for the next decade and who carries it.
A program serves a small share of the people who qualify for it. The record can show where the rest drop out.
A ministry announces five priorities. The budget and the outputs show how many have money behind them and how many have a delivery record.
An institution states that a problem is under control while its own briefing shows the numbers rising. Both documents are public. The record shows which statement it supports.
03 How DDA chooses
DDA takes a question when four conditions hold. The decision or the institution affects many people. The public record holds enough evidence to test the question. The evidence can support an answer. DDA can take the question without a conflict.
When the record cannot support an answer, DDA says so and publishes the gap. A gap is a finding. It names the organization that holds the missing information and states what depends on it.
04 The rules
DDA uses public sources only. We do not use leaked or confidential material.
Every figure traces to a named primary source with its release date. Each analysis ships with a register and a verification appendix. The appendix gives the URL, the query, or the page for every claim.
The analysis states what the record does not show. Silence in a record does not prove that something did not happen, and DDA does not present it that way.
DDA makes no claim about motive without documentary evidence. We report what institutions did and what their records show.
DDA publishes corrections. A corrections log shows the original figure, the corrected figure, and the reason. A retracted figure stays visible as retracted.
Each publication states whether a client commissioned it or DDA started it.
This work is research and analysis. It is not legal representation, it is not privileged, and it does not find that an allegation is true.
05 Analyst, not advocate
DDA reports findings and their consequences. We do not campaign, lobby, or recommend a political outcome. People with different views can use the same analysis, and a finding that helps one side this year can help the other next year.
An institution that wants to fix a problem can use the same analysis to find it. The register shows where the mechanism fails, and that is the place to start.
06 Who uses the work
Journalists and editors use it to check a claim before they print it. Legislators' offices and oversight bodies use it to prepare for a hearing or a review. Unions, associations, and community groups use it to see what a system does. Legal and advisory teams use it as an evidence base. Public bodies use it for an independent read of their own record.
Each user gets the register, the verification appendix, and a plain-language version of the finding.
07 Client work and public interest work
Client work and public interest work follow the same method and the same standard. Client work follows a scope and terms. Public interest work follows the record. DDA declines a public interest question that conflicts with a client engagement.
08 Bring us a question
Send the claim, the report, the rule, or the records. A few sentences and a public link are enough.
DDA analyzes systems. We do not take individual cases. If your question is about how a system works, send the system question. Do not send privileged, personal, medical, or commercially sensitive documents in a first message. We agree on scope, authorization, and handling before anyone shares them.