FOI Friday: Begging arrests, restorative justice and the many languages spoken in schools

Rise in arrests for begging < London Evening Standard A homeless charity says an increase of almost 90 per cent in arrests in London for begging is allowing more drug addicts to get treatment. Statistics released by the Metropolitan Police under the Freedom of Information Act show 730 people were arrested on the city’s streets

FOI Friday: Teachers ignoring FGM advice, fines for school parking, food shoplifting and hospital repairs backlogs

Teachers ignoring FGM guidance < London Evening Standard Less than half of headteachers in London have read official guidance on stopping female genital mutilation, new figures revealed today. The guidance, which tells teachers how to identify girls who are at risk or who have suffered mutilation, was emailed to every school in the country. But

FOI Friday: Blue badge worries, beasts in Cumbrian, thefts from councils and naughty cyclists

This week’s FOI list is dominated by two stories made possible by the BBC – a nationwide investigation into how well developer money given to councils is spent, followed by questions about how many people visit A and E more than once, which uncovered some people visiting more than 100 times a year!

FOI Friday: Social workers, noisy sewing machines, weight-loss surgery and court fines

Cost of social workers soars The Eastern Daily Press used FOI to ask how much Suffolk County Council had been spending on hiring social workers. The story isn’t questioning the salaries of social workers, but the amount spent with agencies on getting the staff in, either temporary or full time. The county council spent nearly

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: Council gets angry because newspaper puts FOIs on the front page

Hampshire County Council is cross. Because the local newspaper puts FOI requests on the front page. Hot on the heels of Chester and Cheshire West Council, it has joined the ‘let us charge for FOI requests’ bandwagon. In fairness to Hampshire, it hasn’t gone as far as Chester did.  Councillors in the Roman city approved

FOI Friday: NHS bonuses, crimes solved by PCSOs, hidden emails and a caution for serious crimes

1. Donald Trump v the vandals It’s golf dominating the news today so I’ll start with the Press and Journal in Aberdeen with a golf-related FOI. Donald Trump’s plans for a golf course there have upset many, and the P&J reports on the number of vandal attacks reported to police as a result of the

FOI Friday: Parking tickets, pot holes, first class travel and international phone calls

With cutbacks looming, FOI request success stories relating to public spending seem to be rising, and dominate this week’s round-up of FOI stories from across the UK: 1. The fines issued to motorists for driving without due care Remember the famous story about the motoring ticket handed out to the driver who was eating an