FOI Friday: The stories made possible thanks to FOI in September 2016

A look at some of the stories made possible thanks to FOI laws in the UK – most of which can easily be replicated elsewhere… Ambulances called to one house 500 times < Kent Online Ambulance crews were called to 595 emergency calls from one private address in one year. The astonishing figure came to

FOI Friday: Roadworks hell, hidden art, naughty nurses and bedblocking patients

Plagues of roadworks < Get Surrey Dismay has been expressed over a ‘plague’ of roadworks on a stretch between Bramley and Guildford in the past three years. Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that more than 860 individual projects were carried out on the A281 from 2012 to 2014 – an average

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? <

Why the only future for football reporting is a ‘fan first’ future

On the day after Sir Tom Finney, the Preston North End legend and a player widely regarded as one of the gentlemen of the game, died BBC Radio Five Live broadcast its Saturday sports coverage from Deepdale, the home of North End. It was a touching tribute to one of the greats of the game

FOI Friday: 10 stories which show how FOI helps local media make a difference

This week is Local Newspaper Week, run by the newspaper industry and the Newspaper Society, to promote the important work done by the local and regional press. The theme this year has been ‘making a difference’ – highlighting the campaigns regional newspapers have run which have helped change the communities they live in for the

FOI Friday: Air bag thefts, obese toddlers, asbestos in schools and the £26,000 chairs

How much is a broken arm worth? < Eastern Daily Press Victims of crime in Norfolk have been awarded compensation payments of up to £370,000 for injuries including a broken arm, collapsed lung, and even serious brain damage, new figures have revealed. Data from the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA) show that in the past

The 12 days of Local Pressmasness 12: Great front pages

And it was all going so well. 11 days, 11 numerically-themed pieces which look at different aspects of the regional and local press. And then I get to day 12 – it should be the easiest of the lot, 12 great front pages. I didn’t want to do just 12 front pages I liked –

The 12 days of Local Pressmasness: 9 angry football clubs

Rows between football clubs and local newspapers are nothing new. But in 2013, I believe we saw a shifting of the sands which will eventually change the way we cover football clubs for the better. A quick appeal on Twitter earlier this week asking for football clubs which had fallen out with, or banned, their

FOI FRIDAY: Council lunches, old drug mules, doctor spending and the smoking ban legacy

What’s on the menu for councillors? < < < Sunday Mail SCOTLAND’S biggest council have increased their spending on gourmet dinners – while hiking the price of meals for OAPs and the vulnerable. Glasgow City councillors slashed the subsidies for welfare meals in a bid to save £306,000. The Labour-controlled local authority hiked the cost

FOI Friday: Cannabis, university spending, race crimes at the football and asbestos in council buildings

Unpaid court fines tops £4million – Bedfordshire On Sunday MORE than £4 million in court fines is owed to courts in Bedfordshire, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. The figures, released by Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), show that last September the amount of fines owed to the county’s courts stood at