FOI Friday: Absestos claims against councils, zero hour contracts, councils with millions in the bank and police encounters with men in fancy dress

Absestos claims made against councils < Manchester Evening News own hall bosses throughout Greater Manchester are facing a ‘ticking timebomb’ of mounting claims from people struck down with conditions linked to deadly asbestos. Manchester council paid out almost £600,000 in damages to victims in the last year alone, an M.E.N. investigation has found. The 2013/14

FOI FRIDAY: HIV cases rise, council spending on credit cards, school transport appeals, active GMC investigations and more

HIV cases rise sharply < < < Plymouth Herald THE number of people who have tested positive for HIV in the city in the last five years has risen by 60 per cent, The Herald can reveal. Figures from Derriford Hospital’s GUM Clinic, released to The Herald under a Freedom of Information Request, show that

FOI FRIDAY: Unpaid dinner money, pothole costs, Border Agency fines and tots attacking teachers

1. Tots attacking Teachers – Clydebank Post A new twist on the story about teachers being hit by youngsters: NURSERY staff in West Dunbartonshire have been subjected to 14 violent or physical attacks by pre-school tots – the highest figure recorded in the last five years. Statistics obtained by the Clydebank Post under freedom of information

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: Lost property, tobacco investments, repeat offenders and long ambulance waits

10 good examples of FOI in action from the local, regional and national media: The longest ambulance delays – Huddersfield Examiner Tony Blair – and politicians in general – may not be made keen on the Freedom of Information Act, but it doesn’t stop them using it to dig out figures which suit their political