FOI Friday: Children at risk, data lost in the post, unsolved murders and the not-so-smart motorways

Criminals avoid jail despite dozens of crimes < Get WestLondon Criminals in London are escaping jail sentences for serious crimes, despite dozens of previous convictions for similar offences. A burglar in London was not given a custodial sentence at a court appearance in June 2014, despite 33 previous burglary offences and 58 total previous convictions,

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

FOI Friday: FIFA costs, secret letters, mystery names and put down dogs

1. Asking for more than just numbers It’s easy to fall into the trap of just asking for numbers and data under FOI – after all, there’s a heck of a lot to go after. But asking for correspondence between parties, or responses to consultations can often lead to excellent stories too. To illustrate that

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: Uni expenses, shoplifting, driving tests and a speed camera success story

1. The expenses of university top bods With £9,000 a year tuition fees very likely for many students starting university, there’s probably never been a better time to stick the finances of universities under the FOI microscope. The Sunday Sun has done just that, asking for the expenses of senior officials at universities in its areas:

FOI Friday: Bed blocking, council ad spending, smoke alarms and police accidents

Hygiene fears in hospitals Not one for those who find Casualty squeamish: The Cynon Valley Leader reports on the reaasons why hospitals call out pest control services. Rats, mice, flies and bugs have all been reported at a cost of £258k. Playing with fire? Here’s an interesting statistic found under FOI: the percentage of fire

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: Cops on desk duty, idle ambulances, data losses, council refurbishments and schoolchild crimes

Coppers on desk duty The debate rages on about whether government cuts are going to hit frontline services or the just the fabled bloated back offices and the Manchester Evening News came up with a new angle into the discussion this week: the number of frontline police officers on the desk duties through illness. In

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

From an increase in food poisoning due to the recession to the councillors who haven’t let the credit crunch reduce their appetite for free food, there’s been a very mixed bag of revelations thanks to FOI this week… 1. The health impact of the recession The recession has been blamed for many things and, it