FOI Friday: Thefts from churches, Christmas cuts, Coventry’s oldest driver and hospital drug thieves

Tax relief for independent schools < Croydon Advertiser CROYDON’S independent schools received £6.8 million in business rates relief over the last six years. Figures obtained by the Advertiser through a Freedom of Information request to Croydon Council show the extent to which the town’s private schools receive financial support. What gets stolen from churches? <

FOI Friday: Custard spills, charity finances, twocking – and an important breakthrough

Regional Development Agency assets An important precedent has hopefully been set this week by the Birmingham Post when it comes to FOI. Regional Development Agencies were a relatively late addition to FOI coverage, and since their demise was announced, some have been reluctant to reveal how much they are selling their assets for. The Birmingham

FOI Friday: Cops under probe, postie problems and restaurant reports

1. Cops under probe The Lancashire Telegraph lifted the lid on 50 cases of serious misconduct brought again Lancashire Police officers which were, in the main, kept under wraps. Cases include allegations of assault, theft, drink driving, possession of child porn, fraud, making threats to kill and rape. Of course, 50 cases among such a

FOI Friday: Swine flu deaths, speeding points, paper cuts in hospital and fuel prices

So, how many people did die of swine flu? For reasons known only to itself – although the fact it keeps being named and shamed by the Information Commissioner for its poor record on FOI might be a clue – the North West Strategic Health Authority banned hospital trusts from giving out figures on swine

FOI Friday: Posh cars, charity cuts, ambulance waits and smoking fines

1. The cuts, they hurt  Good stuff from the Lancashire Telegraph as it set out to find where the cuts are falling at local councils, and who is suffering. For this FOI, it zoomed in on the amount being given out in grants to community groups and charities. No surprise, they’ve been cut. But the level

FOI Friday: Nightstalker, OAP abuse, crime in villages and shredded letters

The nightstalker case The conviction of Delroy Grant, the Nightstalker sex attacker who police failed to catch despite being given a golden opportunity to do so, has been headline news this week. The News Shopper in London took the opportunity to republish an invesitgation it conducted into the hunt for the Nightstalker prior to Grant’s

FOI Friday: CCTV in high schools, parking charges, bad tickets and swine flu

1. CCTV cameras in secondary schools Submitting FOI requests to schools can be endurance test compared to approaching a local education authority for summary information they hold – but it can be worth it, as this story from the Coventry Telegraph proves. It used FOI to ask secondary schools how many CCTV cameras they had

FOI FRIDAY: Maternity problems, schools failing fire checks, polluted rivers and cats stuck up trees

1. Closed maternity units It must be every new parent’s worst nightmare. Route to hospital carefully planned when contractions start, overnight bag packed, journey completed – only to be told the maternity unit is full. More worrying still is how common this scenario is, something the Western  Mail revealed when it asked hospitals for the

20 FOI ideas to kick off 2011

There has been a spike in traffic coming to my blog this week using the search term ‘FOI ideas.’ Quiet first week back at the office maybe? So, here are 20 FOI ideas to kick off 2011, in no particular order. Happy new year! 1. Call outs to pubs and clubs Which pubs and clubs

FOI Friday: Speed cameras, fines in a free car park, under-aged sex and naughty BBC employees

1. Fun with speed cameras Authorities such as councils and police forces have been very reluctant to divulge information about speed cameras in recent times. For example, West Midands Police refused to reveal which cameras made the most cash for fear of vigilante attacks on the cameras involved. But Wales on Sunday managed to get