Government departments
Subject Access Request to a Government Department
Government departments hold more about you than almost anyone else — tax, benefits, immigration, driving, service and justice records — but there is no single request that reaches all of it. Each department is its own data controller with its own route, and a request sent to the wrong one is a month lost. This page exists to get the first decision right: which organisation actually holds the record you want.
GetMySAR is an independent service. We are not GOV.UK and we are not connected to any government department. Every route on this page is one you can use yourself, and making a subject access request directly to a department is free.
Which department holds the record you want?
Find the record type below. Each linked page carries that organisation’s own published route — the address, the form or portal, the ID they ask for — with the source it came from and the date it was checked.
Tax records and employment history — HMRC
PAYE and self assessment records, and the employment history people need for compensation claims and visa renewals. Much of it is already free and instant in your personal tax account, and HMRC can refuse a request for data you could get there — the HMRC page covers when a formal request is actually the right move.
Benefits records — the DWP
Universal Credit, PIP, ESA and legacy benefit claims, assessments and decision records. The DWP page sets out where the request goes and what to name so the right office answers it.
Immigration and visa records — the Home Office and UKVI
Visa applications, entry and exit records, travel history and citizenship files. A subject access request cannot produce proof of your immigration status or fix an eVisa — the Home Office page separates the two before you spend a month finding out.
Driver and vehicle records — the DVLA
Your driving licence record, penalty points and vehicle history. It is not a way to get another person’s registered-keeper details — the DVLA page covers what a request returns and the free checks that answer most questions faster.
Military service records — the MOD
Service records for veterans and serving personnel. There is a free, purpose-built route for these, and the MOD publishes a processing expectation of up to a year — the Ministry of Defence page routes each kind of request, including records of someone who has died, which are not subject access requests at all.
Prison, probation and court records — the MOJ
Which record you want decides where the request goes: prison and probation records use a different inbox from the rest of the department, and court records have their own rules. The Ministry of Justice page walks the routes.
Prosecution files — the CPS
What the Crown Prosecution Service holds about you from a prosecution, which sits under different rules from most government records. The CPS page has the route and the three mailboxes that look right but are not.
What the DBS holds about you — not a DBS check
A subject access request to the Disclosure and Barring Service shows what it holds about you. It is not a DBS check and cannot be used for employment — the DBS page separates the two and points at the certificate routes.
Records that do not come from a government department
A criminal record, or a certificate to show someone. Criminal records are held by the police, and a certificate for an employer is a DBS check or its Scottish or Northern Irish equivalent — not a subject access request to any department. Which police record do you need? routes all of it.
Council records. Your council is its own data controller, not part of central government — housing files, council tax records and social care files all sit with it. For care records, start with getting your social services records.
NHS records. Health records sit with the trust, board or GP practice that treated you, not with a department. Which NHS organisation holds your records? covers it.
Records about someone who has died. Data protection rights end at death, so these are never subject access requests, to any organisation. Some departments publish their own separate routes — the MOD has one for deceased service records — and for health records getting medical records explains the Access to Health Records Act route.
Making the request yourself, free
Every department on this page accepts a request made directly, for free, and none of them requires a special form — though several publish one, and using it usually gets a faster answer. If you have not made a subject access request before, what a subject access request is covers the right itself — what it costs, how long they have, and what identification they can ask for — and our free letter template gives you wording you can send yourself. If an answer has already come back late or thin, the free response checker walks through what a complete response should contain.
Where this comes from
Every route on this page restates what the linked organisation page sets out in full, and each of those pages carries the organisation’s own published source and the date it was checked — follow the link and read it there rather than take a summary’s word for it. Departments change their routes; tell us if something here is out of date.
Last checked 9 August 2026
If a subject access request is the right route
You can make one yourself, free, using the routes on the pages above. If you would rather not handle the wording, the sending and the chasing, GetMySAR prepares, sends and follows up your request for a fixed £20 fee.