FOI Friday: Dirty hospitals, re-employed redundant council workers, lost dogs and drug warrants

A fortnightly round-up of FOI-based stories which could be followed up anywhere…

The secret past of would-be teachers < < < Sunday Sun

POSSESSING explosives, being drunk while in charge of a child, death by reckless driving and indecent assault on a girl . . these are just some of the serious criminal convictions would-be teachers in the North have under their belt.

Hundreds of potential teachers have been applying for classroom positions across the region despite holding a range of serious criminal convictions, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

Information released by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), after the Sunday Sun made a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed the scale of convictions clocked up by teachers applying for positions in the North.

Childhood drugs overdoses < < < Sunderland Echo

A SIX-YEAR-OLD was rushed to Sunderland Royal Hospital after overdosing on antidepressants.

The shocking revelation comes as new figures show three people a day are admitted to the city’s hospital after taking a drug overdose.

A total of 2,999 people were taken to A&E after overdosing on prescribed or non-prescribed medicine and drugs from December 2008 to December 2011.

The youngest was a six-year-old. A further five 12-year-olds were admitted after overdosing on painkillers, penicillin and anti-inflammatory drugs.

More council compensation claims < < < Sunday Mercury

A COUNCIL grave digger has been awarded £65,000 compensation – after he fell into a burial plot he was preparing.

The cemetery worker received the payout from Birmingham City Council (BCC) after he hurt his right knee in the incident.

He is one of several local authority employees who have claimed compensation after being injured at work.

In another case a school worker was handed £100,000 after slipping on food in a dinner hall.

FOI Friday: Prisoner complaints, pensions invested in cluster bombs and crime on rich streets

1. The complaints made by prisoners < < < Manchester Evening News

Inmates at Strangeways have bombarded jail bosses with thousands of often trivial official complaints in the last 12 months – including grumbles about heating, outstanding DVD orders and the quality of the food.

Records of formal inmate grievances at HMP Manchester have shown how officers are being tied up dealing with petty inconveniences. A total of almost 3,500 formal complaints were processed by Strangeways in 12 months – an average of almost 10 every day.

Details, obtained by the M.E.N. under Freedom of Information laws, show how staff had to chase up a newsagent after an inmate complained he had not received a TV listing magazine.

2. Crimes on rich streets < < < Surrey Comet

Criminals have been targeting millionaires on the exclusive St George’s Hill Estate.

In the past six months there have been eight crimes, according to a Freedom of Information request made to Surrey Police, including a suspected shotgun robbery.

The crimes include one incident of criminal damage, one non-domestic burglary, two robberies, two thefts or handling of stolen goods, one vehicle crime and one crime of violence without injury.

3. The council pension fund investing in cluster bomb firm < < < Sunderland Echo

£9MILLION pounds of council pension funds has been invested in a company that produces cluster bomb components.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that Durham County Council has invested pension contributions in General Dynamics Corp.

The US firm is an arms manufacturer that produces parts used in cluster bombs.

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).

FOI Friday: Cyberslackers, free parking, cabbie complaints and olympic tickets

The civil servant ‘cyberslackers’ story goes regional  

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about an FOI request which made the pages of the Daily Telegraph concerning internet usages at the Department for Transport. Although the data released was of dubious quality in terms of working out which site was viewed the most – it gave figures as ‘hits’ rather than page impressions – it did lift a lid on what civil servants looked at during office hours. Now the Belfast Telegraph has obtained the same information for staff working at Stormont, home of the Northern Irish assembly. I suspect this one will be a gift that keeps on giving across the UK.

Free parking for council staff and councillors

Here’s an example of the sort of gripe which regularly appears in local newspapers making it into a national newspaper, thanks to FOI. The Sun used FOI to ask councils up and down the country how much they spent on providing free parking to council staff and officers, and the number of spaces they bought. Of course, there are two sides to this story: councils will argue many employers offer free parking. But when the councils are often the same people hiking up parking fees for the rest of us, it becomes an interesting conflict.

Complaints about cabbies 

Ever had a bad cabbie experience and vowed to complain, only to forget to do so? Yep, me too. The Manchester Evening News has used FOI to find out what people complain about when moaning about cabbies to the council.  There were 1,500 complaints at councils in Greater Manchester, and what makes this story such an entertaining read is the level of detail in it.

FOI FRIDAY: Bail hearing notes, mystery foreign trips, smoking bans and relocation costs

 

Oooh.. a secret

 

1. Using FOI to get transcripts of bail hearings (Lancashire Telegraph)

Here’s a case for all reporters to keep in mind when dealing with stories which involve a question mark over whether the right decision was made at a bail hearing.

The murder of Lancashire nurse Jane Clough by her ex-boyfriend Jonathan Vass has been widely reported. He was on bail at the time for other offences, despite advice from the CPS and police to a judge not to allow such a situation.

The case has gone to Parliament this week with an MP calling for prosecutors to be given the right to appeal a bail hearing decision. The Lancashire Telegraph has covered the story carefully, and crime reporter Sam Chadderton used FOI to get hold of the transcripts of the bail hearings which led to Vass being released on bail:

Now, for the first time, the Lancashire Telegraph has gained access to a full written account of the two bail hearings, under the Freedom of Information Act.

Despite a formal application to the courts service being refused, the judge personally agreed to release the transcripts.

2. Police breaking data protection rules (Liverpool ECHO)

The Liverpool ECHO used FOI to find out how many times police officers at Merseyside Police had been caught breaking data protection laws. The answer: 208 times in three years:

Breaches include officers accessing police computer systems to access classified data about family and friends, spying on ongoing cases and researching for “non-policing” purposes.

Merseyside Police blamed a year-on-year rise down to the fact 130 officers looked at the file involving an allegation against Steven Gerrard.

2. Complaints about the smoking ban (Reading Post)

In the week MPs began looking at revoking part of the smoking ban, the Reading Post revealed the findings of its FOI probe into how well used anti-smoking legislation was in Reading. The answer: Not very. Reading Council has never tried to enforce the ban, with just 60 complaints made about alleged breaches. So what was all the fuss about?

3. The five-year-old accused of criminal damage (Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Ok, so the FOI about the number of under tens who have been accused of committing offences has been done many times before – so why mention it now? Simple – the response from West Yorkshire Police was very detailed, and gave the age of the youngest person accused by a crime, thus making it possible for the T&A to report on the five year old accused of criminal damage.

4. Relocation costs (Stoke Sentinel)

A whole bunch of councils have merged in the last few years – but at what cost? The Stoke Sentinel pushed for answers on this when it submitted FOI requests to the new Cheshire East Council to find out how much had been paid in relocation cost to staff when it had been formed. The answer: £850,000 for people who had to move offices.

5. Suspended police officers (Sunday Sun)

The number of police officers suspended from police forces in the north doubled last year, according to the Sunday Sun – with some spending more than  a year on gardening leave.

6. Redundancy costs for health chiefs (Teesside Gazette)

The costs of making staff redundant from authorities has been in the headlines for a while and in Teesside, the Evening Gazette has been steadily revealing the costs at various bodies in its areas. Primary Care Trusts are among those making big redundancies ahead of being scrapped, and the Gazette has made a point of asking for details of the biggest single payout – including 3223k at one health trust.

7. A numbers game (Brighton Argus)

Covering benefits stories can be tricky as it normally involves being accused of picking on the vulnerable. But this story from the Brighton Argus is worth digging into. It reports on figures, obtained under FOI, which show that an average of 10% of people trying to claim for Employment Support Allowance get it – but in Sussex 15% of all applicants are approved for it. In other words, you’re 50% more likely to get it in Sussex than anywhere else.

8. Council tax reminders for councillors (Maidenhead Advertiser)

The Maidenhead Advertiser is the latest newspaper to do the FOI about the councillors who have been sent reminders for not paying their council tax. Maidenhead Council refused to name the councillors, as have others, but did say five councillors were sent reminders. I quite like the defence of one councillor who said they were so busy it could easily slip a councillor’s mind!

9. An unusual take on foreign trips by a council (Lancashire Evening Post)

I thought I’d include this story not because it’s an FOI we’ve not heard of before – but because it’s proof that FOI is only ever part of a story. The Lancashire Evening Post reported on the number of foreign trips made by councillors at the expense of taxpayers. What made the story was the response from the council about one trip to Bologna: The council couldn’t remember why councillors went or what was achieved.

10. Second home council tax (Ivybridge and South Brent Gazette)

And finally one which could run and run, especially in these cash-tight times. The Gazette used FOI to ask how many houses were subject to second-home council tax relief – therefore reducing council tax by 10 per cent. For South Hams, around £700,000 is lost in this relief, and the figures were broken down by area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOI Friday: 10 things we’ve learnt this week thanks to the Freedom of Information Act

1. Anti-social behaviour in the library

There was a time when it was the contents of some books which caused most offence in libraries. Apparently that’s not the case now in Lincolnshire, when indecent exposure, public urination

2. Dog attacks

The Southport Visiter reports on the number of dog attacks in Southport – based on figures it got from the local hospital for the last three years. 1000 dog-related injuries in three years seems a worrying trend for an area like Southport.

3. Botched operations

Did you know FOI could be used to find out some details about botched operations? It seems it can – and this story from the Ipswich Star appears to be proof of that. It oroved a story about a testicle operation resulting in a man becoming infertile using FOI. An open door to finding out how many operations go wrong?

FOI Friday: 10 things we’ve learnt thanks to the Freedom of Information Act this week

1. Schooling ‘on the cheap’

Schools are bound by the Freedom of Information Act,  but have 40 days to reply. That can make FOI-ing schools a bit of a challenge, but the results can pay off, as demonstrated by the Norwich Evening News this week. It found that high schools in Norwich are employing a growing army of unqualified staff to look after lessons.

Under an agreement on the use of  ‘cover supervisors’ in schools, the supervisors are only supposed to hand out lesson plans prepared by teachers, and to maintain order. They should also not take classes for more than three consecutive days. But asking questions of schools under FOI, the News found 16 admitted they had used the staff in such a way in 2008/9 – with a total of 143 occasions where the three-day limit was passed. Six said they could not access the information and 11 failed to answer the request.

2. The North East rail fiasco

The Journal reported on the nationalisation of the East Coast mainline this week. The Tories used FOI to get hold of correspondence between National Express, the operator, and the Government about its financial plight. The Tories suggest the documents show the government was aware of financial problems long before they became public. It looks as though FOI may be a key way of getting info out of government for the opposition parties ahead of a general election – although it does beg the question as to why politicians have to resort to FOI at all.

3. Run down universities

The Edinburgh Evening News reports on an FOI request to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which  compiled a database on the state of buildings owned by universities. At one Edinburgh university, surveyors judged more than 40 per cent of the university’s lecture theatres, libraries and other non-residential buildings as “inoperable” and “posing a serious risk of major failure and breakdown”.

FOI Friday: 10 things we’ve learnt this week thanks to Freedom of Information

No breast implants left at lost property in this week’s FOI wrap, but we do have the credit card action of senior quango bosses, crime on buses, ineffective smoking ban clampdowns, schools dropping Christian assemblies … and Ministry of Defence staff leaking stuff on Twitter….

What the credit cards tell us

Asking for the statements of corporate credit cards belonging to executives at Yorkshire Forward proved a good call for a reporter, according to this story in the Wakefield Express.

The papers reports:

Sixty-two executives at the agency, funded by the government and European Union to attract investment to the region, spent more than £170,000 on their executive credit cards in an 18-month period. Credit card statements obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show hotel stays in Brussels, South Africa, America, China and Japan.

Restaurant bills of up to £500 were charged to the credit cards, held by Yorkshire Forward bosses including chairman Terry Hodgkinson and chief executive Tom Riordan.

Social Media tickings off

The number of staff disciplined for ‘leaking’ things from the Ministry of Defence on Twitter and Facebook was revealed this week. There’s a bigger question here, perhaps, in looking at the impact social media has had on public bodies in terms of personnel issues – bullying, perhaps? Are people being ticked off for using it?

Christianity cancelled in school assemblies

I’m not sure if this story began life in the Birmingham Mail as an FOI but it’s one which could certainly be generated via FOI. The Birmingham Mail has established that 23 schools have received dispensation, in Birmingham, to stop holding Christian assemblies.