After an 18 month FOI dispute, we finally have the official reasons Boris Johnson provided with his resignation honours list for giving peerages to Charlotte Owen and Ross Kempsell (after a lot of hard work by Martin Rosenbaum).
And after all that, they’re not massively illuminating. Martin describes them as “very thin, inadequate and lacking in evidence of relevant achievements“.
But the important thing is that, thanks to FOI, they’re available
In more FOI time wasting news:
An internal review at the Financial Conduct Authority found it “inappropriately” delayed responding to all but one of 18 requests for information it received between July and December 2020.
Buggy thefts
Hundreds of buggies and prams are being stolen from parents in Britain every year by heartless thieves in smash-and-grab sprees, MailOnline can reveal.
Thugs looking to make quick and easy cash are breaking into houses and cars – or even shoplifting from stores – to make off with designer strollers worth hundreds of pounds. Crooks are targeting sleek designer prams from firms such as Babyzen, Stokke and Silvercross – before putting them up for sale on Facebook Marketplace and eBay for a quick profit.
Between January 2021 and July this year, 1,500 buggies and wheelchairs were reported stolen in London alone. This includes 322 were stolen in 2021, while 283 thefts were reported in the first six month of this year.
Airport crime
Crime is increasing at UK airports — with more than 6,000 reported last year. The 13 per cent year-on-year rise included assaults, drug smuggling attempts and thefts.
And the true figure will be much higher as Sussex Police, which covers Gatwick — the nation’s second busiest airport — said it could not provide statistics.
The figures, supplied under Freedom of Information laws, show 6,056 crimes were recorded at major airports in the last financial year — up from 5,367 in the 12 months previous. Of those, 3,804 were thefts, 795 assaults, 317 for weapons, 285 for drugs and 155 were sex offences.
Police suspensions
More than half of currently suspended police officers are under investigation for alleged sexual-related allegations. Dorset Police has disclosed data on officer suspensions from 2019 through 2024 through a Freedom of Information request (FOI).
In 2024, six officers were suspended, four of whom were under investigation for sexual related allegations such as assault, conduct or harassment.
In the 2017 to 2018 financial year, three officers were suspended, increasing to nine in 2018-2019, and five in 2019-2020. 2022 saw the highest number of suspensions in the force with 11 officers taken off duty. In 2023, one police officer was suspended for 272 days and is still in the investigation process.
Office space
With dozens of council staff apparently working from exotic locations, town halls might have some spare office space.
Wiltshire Council made over £88,000 in one year from renting out space in Trowbridge County Hall.
In the 2023/24 financial year, the council made £50,391 in rental income from the building and collected £37,810.47 in service charges, according to data revealed in a Freedom of Information request.
This total of £88,201.47 was the highest annual amount received for Trowbridge County Hall in recent years, significantly more than the £52,685 made in 2022/23.
Potholes
Rain, wind, icy, snow, freezing temperatures, it’s pothole season. Might be time to get your FOI requests in.
More than £2m has been paid out in pothole compensation claims by Transport for London (TfL) in the last three years, fresh data shows.
The transport body awarded £1.7m in 2022-23 for 12 claims, a huge increase on the £310,000 paid in compensation the previous year. Just £85,000 was allocated last year.
TfL reported a rise in potholes from 804 in 2021-22 to 945 in 2022-23 but was unable to record figures for 2023-24 due to a cyber-attack.
The new data, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, also showed that the number of pothole claims received by TfL last year reached 229.
Mouse droppings
This is probably a new low in the classic #FOI genre – full reports of of poor food hygiene inspections.
The Indian takeaway Touch of Spice on Bassaleg Road in Newport was given a two-star hygiene rating last month. A freedom of information request by the Argus to the Food Standards Agency revealed details from the inspector’s report.
The inspector found mouse droppings in part of the shed which were covered in dust/flour – indicating they were from the past, not new.
When the inspector pointed out the droppings, the staff said they felt so sure they were seeds, not droppings, they offered to taste them to check.
Licence plates
A Scottish council has failed to sell a rare number plate it hoped would be snapped up by a star such as Harry Styles. East Renfrewshire Council aimed to sell the HS 0 plate – once used by the official car of its provost – for a six-figure sum to raise vital cash.
It was hoping for interest from the likes of stars with the same initials including former One Direction star Harry Styles, Hollywood star Hilary Swank or TV presenter Helen Skelton.
A freedom of information request found there had been little interest in any prospective buyers securing the plate.
A spokesperson for East Renfrewshire Council insisted: “Our historic number plate is still for sale and we remain confident it will fetch a six-figure sum.”
Meanwhile, there are some licence plates you can’t have. Freedom Of Information request findings released by the DVLA to private plate supplier Regtransfers have revealed a number of number plates that won’t be seen on Britain’s roads this year.
These include combinations that may represent insults, swear words, sexual references, references to drugs, references with racist, sexist or LGBTQ+ connotations, as well as some political and religious references.
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