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

FOI FRIDAY: Asbestos, Facebook, police cells and sham marriages

10 good examples of FOI in action from the local, regional and national media: 1. Asbestos found at public buildings – Milford Mercury Asbestos, known as the silent killer, is regularly the subject of health and safety campaigns – so an FOI which reveals that the majority of council buildings in an area contained asbestos,

Arise, your newspaper: How regional newspapers covered the New Year Honours

If you saw the national newspapers or TV news on Saturday, then you’ll know that The New Year Honours were somewhat dominated by  Olympians. And why not? 2012, after all, is a year which will be remembered for sport.

FOI FRIDAY: Big benefit claims, football ground safety, spending on temps and how much headteachers earn

  1. School-based hate crimes investigated by the police < < < Western Morning News Sure, we’ve seen FOI requests about the number of reports of racism recorded by schools or local authorities – but this is the first time I’ve seen a figure for the number of times police have been called in to investigate

FOI Friday: Dirty hospitals, re-employed redundant council workers, lost dogs and drug warrants

A fortnightly round-up of FOI-based stories which could be followed up anywhere… The secret past of would-be teachers < < < Sunday Sun POSSESSING explosives, being drunk while in charge of a child, death by reckless driving and indecent assault on a girl . . these are just some of the serious criminal convictions would-be

FOI Friday: Bad living conditions, school repair backlogs, teen drug dealers and the return of schoolyard compo

  Revealing the findings of ‘neighbourhood renewal assessments’ – Stoke Sentinel Here’s one which could run and run across the country. The Stoke Sentinel reports on the findings of a council ‘neighbourhood renewal assessment’ – the likes of which are carried out by councils all over the place. A NEW report has painted a sobering

FOI Friday: Council workers earning less than a living wage, mental health wards and publicly-funded competitions

From revealing the impact of hospital ward closures to the number of people working for councils below a living wage – here are 10 FOI ideas from around the country

FOI Friday: Unusual council waiting lists, a housing crisis, and the theft of a six-foot cardboard copper

This week’s list includes how to work out if there’s a housing crisis, how well used (or not) Sarah’s Law is in your area, and finding out what people are your local prison have been jailed for

FOI Friday: Tonsils, waiting in ambulances, thefts from courts and some interesting emails

Courts were told to push for tougher sentences When doing FOI Friday, I try and pick FOI stories which can be replicated elsewhere. Based on that criteria, including this story from The Guardian seems a bit odd. Basically, the Guardian got hold of court emails which encouraged magistrates to direct riot-related offences to crown court

FOI Friday: Brothel raids, B&B costs, farm thefts and cautions for violent crimes

1.Houses of multiple occupancy Kicking off with a story which may not have been sourced under FOI, but which could be: The Liverpool ECHO reports on the number of properties which have been licensed for use as ‘houses of multiple occupancy’, of which just 25% had planning permission? Why is this an issue? Well, if