*sarcastic* But I thought Freedom of Information WAS a waste of money.
In a totally not embarrassing move, Brewdog founder James Watt has launched an unofficial government watchdog, Shadow Doge, which he has styled after Elon Musk’s programme in the US.
Watt said in a post on LinkedIn that his venture would assess UK Government spending using “extensive” Freedom of Information requests and a hotline for whistleblowers to highlight waste. I predict a lot of Section 21 refusals in his future.
Meanwhile, at actual DOGE, they’re, unsurprisingly, trying to avoid the Freedom of Information Act (have they considered Post-it notes?).
Housing complaints
More than 160,000 complaints of mould and dampness in social housing have been made since the SNP came into power, according to data obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.
The figures obtained under freedom of information come from 22 of 32 Scottish local authorities, with the remaining 10 councils not logging such data – meaning the true number of council homes where complaints of damp and mould is higher.
The three councils with the highest number of such recorded complaints are Aberdeen City (34,787), Edinburgh (24,216) and Renfrewshire (17,860).
Speeding cars
Almost half of UK police forces have caught motorists driving more than 90mph (144km/h) on 30mph roads in the 20 months to the end of August, the RAC says.
A total of 48% of forces found drivers going more than three times the 30mph limit, while 90% had clocked people driving at 60mph.
The highest recorded speed on 30mph roads was 122mph in South Yorkshire. For 20mph roads, the top speed was logged by North Wales Police at 88mph.
The data came from Freedom of Information requests the RAC made to 45 police forces relating to the period from January 2023 to the end of August 2024. Forty forces provided data.
Drink Driving
After submitting a series of freedom of information requests to 34 police forces across the UK, researchers have discovered that Avon and Somerset Police recorded the fifth highest number of drink driving offences between 2021-2024.
Over the past three years, Avon and Somerset Police have recorded just over 6,000 drink driving offences, significantly higher than nearby South Wales Police who recorded just under 4,000 offences.
Thefts from cars
Cambridgeshire has emerged as one of the top areas in England and Wales for incidents of catalytic converter thefts, a study by Go Compare has revealed. The insurance firm analysed responses from 27 police forces following a Freedom of Information request made in 2023.
Results show Cambridgeshire leading the statistics with thefts affecting one in 1,292 vehicles. It’s closely followed by Hertfordshire and Greater London, with rates of one in 2,076 and one in 2,351 respectively.
Boarded up properties
A Freedom of Information request to Great Yarmouth Borough Council (GYBC) revealed reasons why certain buildings were secured between January 2021 and January 2025.
Eight of the reasons the council provided referred to preventing further antisocial behaviour (ASB) from occurring in them.
For the the Star Hotel in Hall Quay and The Victory Hotel in Nelson Road South the council said the reason to board the properties up was “after a fire to secure against further ASB”.
Just eight weeks before The Victory Hotel went up in flames, police officers uncovered cannabis plants at the property which were said to have had a street value of around £100,000.
Wobbly trains
Glasgow Subway has spent nearly £120,000 after passengers complained that its new fleet of trains were too unstable and noisy.
Operators Strathclyde Partnership for Travel (SPT) paid out for more than 100 dampers on its new trains, which gradually replaced the old carriages last year.
Passengers had complained about getting thrown about while on board the modern trains. The issue was first reported in The Scotsman, following a freedom of information request by the newspaper.
Cup of tea?
Eye-watering spending on tea and biscuits for meetings isn’t what it used to be.
Croydon Council has spent thousands of pounds on refreshments alone in just one year.
Your Local Guardian submitted a Freedom of Information request to Croydon Council to determine how much taxpayers’ money was spent on refreshments in 2023 and 2024.
From January to December 2024, Croydon Council forked out an eye-watering £3,077 on teas, biscuits, sandwiches and other refreshments.
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