Tagged: BBC
FOI Friday: Councils investing in tobacco, sheep worrying, posh cars and NHS exit packages
Councils investing millions in tobacco firms – Carlisle News and Star
Millions of pounds from pension funds held for local authority workers across Cumbria have been invested in major tobacco firms
Cumbria County Council, which also manages pension money for district councils such as Carlisle Copeland and Allerdale, has confirmed that more than £8m of the fund has been ploughed into the tobacco industry.
The information was released following a Freedom of Information request.
NHS redundancy packages soar – BBC
The cost of exit packages paid out by hospitals in the East of England in a bid to cut staff numbers has increased significantly, the BBC has learned.
Figures from 16 hospital trusts, which provided information for the current financial year, revealed the combined spending on staff exit packages had risen more than eight-fold since 2010.
More than £5m has been paid out by the trusts so far in 2011-12, compared with £1.65m the year before and £605,000 the year before that, according to figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request.
The luxury cars driven by council bosses – Liverpool Post
MERSEYSIDE taxpayers are funding top of the range cars for two Liverpool council executives.
City council chief executive Ged Fitzgerald and director of regeneration Nick Kavanagh, are already two of the highest paid officials with salaries of £197,000 and between £120,000 and £140,000 respectively.
But now it has been revealed they have been driving round the city in luxury vehicles paid for by the taxpayer – while the Labour-run council axed £140m from its budget over two years.
Like this:
FOI Friday: Classroom languages, councillor pensions and criminals applying to be teachers
1. What land has your council sold?
Interesting stuff from the BBC in London (although finding a link to their story was very hard, so I’ve linked to one from a local newspaper which credits the BBC at least). They used FOI to ask all London councils how many plots of land they have sold off in recent years, where those plots were and how big they were. That’s surely enough to generate some local stories elesewhere.
2. Hospitals cashing in from no-win, no-fee solicitors
Admittedly, the Association of British Insurers has a vested interest putting out the results of this FOI – but at a time when car insurance premiums are on the rise, should hospitals really be allowed to make tens of thousands of pounds from injury-claim lawyers wishing to advertise in Accident and Emergency departments?
3. Hospital cuts taking their toll?
The argument against NHS cuts is that it will reduce level of care, but how can this be quantified? Cambridge First has come up with a good way – asking for details of the number of cases of ‘surgical infection’ in patients who underwent major surgery. The paper also got hold of details of the number of emergency readmissions of patients following stays in hospitals. Hospital staff say that the fact both sets of numbers are rising shows they aren’t being able to do their jobs properly.
Interesting numbers from the Bexhill Observer which, thanks to FOI, reports on the number of mums giving birth who have what it calls ‘dangerous addictions’ – ranging from smoking to heroin.
5. The criminals applying to be teachers
This is probably the FOI I expect to see run and run now. The Stoke Sentinel asked the Criminal Records Bureau for a breakdown of the number of people with criminal records who applied to become teachers – a job which involves a CRB check. According to the paper, people convicted for drug dealing, fraud, theft, and arson all tried to get to work in schools.
6. The rise and rise of the ‘post charge’ caution
When someone is charged with a crime by the police, it’s fair to assume they’ll go to court, isn’t it? Apparently not, according to the Liverpool Post, which this week revealed the rising use of the ‘post charge caution’ by the Crown Prosecution Service. 45 have been handed out in Greater Manchester – but more than 200 in Merseyside.
7. Another different take on the parking fines hotspots story
There have been a number of new takes on the parking fines hotspots story recently, and here’s another one. – focusing on how much a council makes off its top two streets. That is what the Wandsworth Guardian did – and found two streets which combined make the council £500,000 a year
8. Bans from libraries and leisure centres
The Hull Daily Mail has revealed how 34 people have been banned from leisure centres and libraries in the city for a variety of offences including drug possession and death threats. As usual, unions say the documented cases of abuse are just the tip of the iceberg.
Interesting stuff from a chap called Trevor Nunn, who runs a website which keeps an eye on Chester and Cheshire West Council. He used FOI to find out how much was paid into councillors’ pensions by the council in the last year – £124,000. So what, you might say, but given that councillors receive allowances rather than salaries, and aren’t actually employed by councils, isn’t it a little odd that they get pensions?
10. 140 languages spoke in primary schools
The Bradford Telegraph and Argus used FOI to get detailed information on the languages spoken in primary schools. Across Bradford, 140 languages are spoken, with some schools having up to 98% of children with english as a second language. This article, to me, is proof you can deal with these issues without being accused of stirring up hatred.
Like this:
FOI Friday: Unusual council waiting lists, a housing crisis, and the theft of a six-foot cardboard copper
1. Police officers disciplined for racism
Proof of the value of FOI disclosure logs – for journalists anyway. The BBC reports on seven police officers from West Mercia Police disciplined for racism. The BBC, which used the infamous ‘BBC has learnt’ in the intro, confirms later in the piece it found the information on West Mercia’s disclosure log.
2. Life-sized copper stolen from police station
I know the ‘things stolen from a police station’ FOI has been done a lot, but I wanted to include this one, simply because of what was stolen. According to the Bucks Free Press:
The catchphrase ‘you’re nicked’ has been spun on its head by daring thieves who pinched items including a life-size cut-out of a copper from police.
The six-foot tall cardboard crime deterrent was put under the long arm of a crook at a police station in the Wycombe LPA, information obtained by the Bucks Free Press reveals.
A truncheon and ‘five blue strobe flashing lights’, likely to be from a police car, were also nabbed from Wycombe police along with an item marked ‘other’.
FOI Friday: The cost of unions, the cost of dying, the cost of parking … and escaping prisoners
The Scotsman used FOI to find out how much cremation and burial charges had risen as a result of recent spending cuts – in some places it has doubled, while overall the amount raised from such services has gone from £8million to £16million.
The cost of residents permits goes up
Spotting a theme here yet? Maybe. The BBC’s Inside Out programme – ie the programme the BBC bigwigs want to slash the budget of, despite being the only regional current affairs progeamme the BBC currently produces which breaks stories – used FOI to ask councils how much they’d made from residents parking permits in recent years. No surprise, the figure has rised rapidly.
PCTs blocking drugs to save cash
An investigation by GP magazine has revealed that dozens of primary care trusts are blocking access to drugs which have been approved by NICE, the government’s drug approval/rationing (depending on your point of view) agency. The NHS constitution says that any drug approved by NICE should be made available, so this could be an FOI for local newsapers to follow up.
FOI Friday: Social workers, noisy sewing machines, weight-loss surgery and court fines
The Eastern Daily Press used FOI to ask how much Suffolk County Council had been spending on hiring social workers. The story isn’t questioning the salaries of social workers, but the amount spent with agencies on getting the staff in, either temporary or full time. The county council spent nearly £1million with agencies last year, compared to just £300,000 three years ago.
I’ve blogged before about FOI being a means to the story, rather than the story itself. And this article from the Portsmouth News proves that approach works very well. The FOI figures on alcohol-related admissions to the local casualty department confirm the number of cases is going up, rather than down, but the stats from the FOI request are there to support a wider piece which involved spending a night out with paramedics. In other words, FOI stories need not be dry.
How busy are the armed police?
Armed police are called out four times a day across the North, according to the Sunday Sun – a total of 15,000 call outs in the last 10 years. Interestingly, the numbers in recent years have fallen a bit – not because there are fewer incidents, but because officers with tasers are sent to some incidents first.
FOI Friday: Council employee compo, eating disorders, gypsy education and spying
1. Employer liability claims against councils
Lancahsire County Council paid out £1,250 to a member of staff who got a bad back from carrying a heavy refreshments tray while on duty. That was one of 179 claims made against LCC, reported by the Lancashire Evening Post, over the past four years – payouts have totalled more than £2million. Perhaps the most surprising one was this one:
£5,500 to a worker who fell out of bed responding to a phone call
A handy reminder of the value of returning to FOIs which may have been done elsewhere in the past. The Sunday Sun asked councils to reveal details of when they had used Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) powers to investigate members of the public.
The act means authorities can follow residents suspected of crime, trawl their internet browsing history and recruit informants and private investigators to monitor their movements. Some councils in the North even use it to snoop on their own staff.
3. Children with eating disorders
Bedfordshire on Sunday carried a worrying report on how eating disorders among young children was on the rise. It obtained the information by asking the South Essex Partnership Trust – the mental health trust for the area – for details of the numbers of cases, the sex of each case, and the age. The youngest were six and seven.
FOI Friday: Dirty schools, lying parents, superbug deaths and attacks on postment
Children lose school places after parents lie < < < Birmingham Mail
RECORD numbers of Birmingham children are being left devastated by the city council withdrawing their prized place at school because the youngsters’ parents lied on their application form.
The local authority has taken places off eight pupils who were due to start their new schools this month after being tipped off by the mums and dads’ neighbours.
The number has shot up from five youngsters having their place withdrawn in 2010 and three in 2009.
Dirty School kitchens < < < Liverpool Echo
A FILTHY school canteen plagued by rodents posed an “imminent risk” to Merseyside pupils’ health, a report has revealed.
Mounds of mouse droppings were discovered in the kitchens of Bedford primary in Bootle in a surprise hygiene spot-check.
Pellets were even found in a bain-marie, a hot cupboard used to keep food warm for the 220 children who are served school meals, and near to where sandwiches were prepared.
40 deaths related to superbugs < < < Teesside Gazette
MORE than 40 people have died at two Teesside hospitals over the last three years after contracting a killer superbug.
A Freedom of Information request has shown the number of patients who died at the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton, and the University Hospital of Hartlepool after contracting Clostridium Difficile (C.diff).
Is the BBC obsessed with regional newspapers?
The BBC Birmingham and Black Country website on Sunday - the Express and Star story is fractionally more important than the Ashes not coming to Edgbaston, apparently
Maybe it was just a slow news weekend in the Midlands. In fact, I know it wasn’t because I’ve seen what’s passed through the Birmingham Mail website since Friday. So I can’t quite work out why a decision by the Wolverhampton Express and Star to close its printing plant in the city and switch to a sister plant in Telford is such big news.
Birmingham and the Black Country is a big old region population wise. There’s a lot happening. And while it’s interesting for media geeks to know that the Express and Star is closing one of its presses, is it really the fourth most important news story in the region?
The story fails to do what all new stories should do: Address how it might impact the reader. Will the paper be out earlier? Will it have fewer editions? Will it mean a change to the look and feel of the paper – more colour for example? All the BBC reports is that it will mean ‘greater efficiency’ for the title – whatever that means.
FOI Friday: Strange weapons, cost of a big fire, prison menus and revisiting attacks at hospitals
Newcastle Evening Chronicle: Reports compiled about big fire show concerns over safety equipment
EFFORTS to fight a giant blaze were hit by concerns over safety equipment.
Internal fire service documents seen by the Chronicle reveal the fire caused damage to the neck straps on firefighters’ breathing masks that did not meet required standards.
The fault was raised in a report compiled by chiefs and an investigation was recommended.
The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also reveal how the cost of the operation exceeded £50,000.
Details released under the Freedom of Information Act show police have confiscated hundreds of unusual items which have been used in attacks or deemed offensive weapons.
The haul also includes a pizza shovel, a quill pen and a pool ball in a sock.
Newcastle Journal: £4million seized back from criminals in North East
MORE than £4m was seized from North East criminals in just two years as police used court powers to strip them of their ill-gotten gains.
Criminals on Tyneside and in Northumberland paid back nearly £700,000 in cash while, following examinations by forensic accountants, fraudsters have also had to pay nearly £2.5m to cover the cost of their assets.
Financial investigators calculated the true value of their benefits to determine exactly what they owed from their businesses.
FOI Friday: Tonsils, waiting in ambulances, thefts from courts and some interesting emails
Courts were told to push for tougher sentences
When doing FOI Friday, I try and pick FOI stories which can be replicated elsewhere. Based on that criteria, including this story from The Guardian seems a bit odd. Basically, the Guardian got hold of court emails which encouraged magistrates to direct riot-related offences to crown court for sentence. The reason I’ve included it is because it demonstrates just how powerful FOI can be if you go beyond numbers and ask for documents. Emails can be a rich source of stories – from memos directing traffic wardens where to target for parking through to stuff like this.
There’s something particularly good about this use of FOI. Yes, it’s about hospital admissions relating to drink, but it’s just so thorough. The Sunday Sun reveals how the number of admissions to hospital for alcohol-related matters have rocketed in five years. But they also asked for age-group breakdown – those in their 40s and 50s are the biggest group – the youngest admissions, and a breakout for cases treated in A&E alone. Good stuff.
