Sometimes it seems no one ever learns.
George Greenwood, an investigative reporter at The Times, has written about the *extensive* emails and documents that went on in the background about his FOI about Suella Braverman’s use of private emails whilst in ministerial office.
The request, which was immediately flagged as coming from a journalist, was to the Attorney General’s Office, but pulled in the Cabinet Office, Home Office and Number 10 as well, including press offices and special advisors.
This was all after the various reveals about the Cabinet Office’s Clearing House – flagging requests as being from journalists, coordinating responses and blocking sensitive releases – and while an inquiry into the Clearing House was ongoing.
Meanwhile, Wellsway School in Keynsham, near Bristol, has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office after 86,000 lines of sensitive information was emailed to a couple. They were sent the data after they submitted a Freedom of Information request because they felt the secondary school’s withdrawal room was being used excessively.
This keeps happening. And after the PSNI data breach, the lack of training to prevent it seems ridiculous.
Attacks on firefighters
A Freedom of Information request has revealed Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) shared details of 93 violent acts against firefighters in the area it covers between January 2019 and October 2024.
The data reveals some firefighters in Worcester had suffered injuries during that time while many more were verbally abused.
Stolen Ford Fiesta
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders, the Ford Fiesta is the best selling car of all time in the UK. But its widespread appeal has also made it a target for thieves.
Data obtained from the DVLA through a freedom of information request, showed 5,979 Fiestas were stolen in the 12 months up to March 2023, a 53% rise on the previous year.
In 2022, Ford announced it was stopping making the Fiesta from June 2023, in favour of producing a new electric model. Stuart Masson, editor of the The Car Expert, believes Fiestas are being stolen due to demand for cheap parts.
Drug driving
Half of motorists pulled over on suspicion of drug-driving fail roadside drug tests. Police figures obtained by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart indicate 51% of tests were positive in 2023, and 49% were positive in the first seven months of last year.
This is based on data provided by 17 out of 45 police forces across the UK in response to Freedom of Information requests.
Drug-driving rules consist of very low limits for eight illegal drugs such as cocaine and cannabis, risk-based limits for eight drugs that have a medical use, and a separate approach to amphetamines that aims to balance legitimate medical use with abuse.
Roadside swab tests identify whether a motorist has used cannabis or cocaine. The presence of other drugs is identified via blood and urine tests at police stations.
Icy weather
As the UK faces freezing weather, new data has revealed the number of people who’ve suffered slips and falls on ice. A Freedom of Information Request, submitted by BMAS to York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals, has revealed 217 people were admitted over the past 4 years.
The data shows 89 admissions in 2021, 65 in 2022, 28 in 2023, and 35 from January to October 2024.
Over the four years, January accounted for 106 admissions, making it the peak month, followed by December with 65.
Home schooling
Hundreds of children are currently being home educated in Cheshire West and Chester, with thousands in fines and a number of prosecutions issued to some parents because their children have failed to attend school.
Following a freedom of information request submitted by home education charity Educational Freedom, the council has lifted the lid on the current picture regarding home education for children in the borough. According to the figures, there were 679 children from 530 households being home schooled as of September.
During a 12-month period from September 2023-24, a total of 22 formal ‘notices to satisfy’ were served on parents or guardians. Such notices are issued by education authorities when they believe a child is not being properly schooled. It require parents or guardians to demonstrate that their child is receiving a suitable education.
A subsequent 13 school attendance orders were then issued – legal directives requiring a child to attend school. The figures revealed that of the 13 parents or guardians given the orders – five were successfully prosecuted for non-compliance, with combined fines and costs of almost £2,300 in total being handed out by the courts.
Long mortgages
There has been a significant rise in the number of people taking out ultra-long mortgages that they will still be paying off into their seventies.
In the first nine months of 2024 alone, 22,103 mortgages with a term of 35 years or more were sold to people over the age of 36, according to Freedom of Information data analysed by Quilter. By comparison, just over 5,900 such mortgages were issued in 2020.
Train lines
Back in 2015, when Boris Johnson was the Mayor of London, there was a project to rename the Overground that never quite came to fruition. At the time, the City of London spent £10,175 on customer research for the proposed line name changes which never came true.
According to TfL documents revealed by a Freedom of Information request, this is what they could have been called instead of the names they got:
- Lioness – Watford local line
- Mildmay – North London line
- Suffragette – Barking line
- Weaver – Lea Valley line
- Windrush – East London line
- Liberty – Emerson Park line
Alternatives to the Lea Valley line (Weaver) included the Hackney line, Jazz line, William Morris line, River Lea line and Southbury line.
Public loos
Almost 100 public loos across London have been closed down over the past 10 years, while only 32 new ones have opened, research has revealed.
Age UK London’s Lifting the Lid report calls for “a better understanding of public needs”, based on Freedom of Information research showing a serious decline in public toilets.
Half of the 30 local authorities responding to the charity’s requests for information have not opened any new public facilities to spend a penny since 2014; only 11 have provided new loos.
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