This week, a cultural interlude, with a show about the US Freedom of Information Act – featuring bluegrass music and public records – reaching the UK.
And then some FOI stories…
Weapons in schools
A Freedom of Information request to Ysgol Dyffryn Aman revealed that during the 2023/2024 academic year, there were four recorded incidents of weapons being brought onto school premises, yet only two pupils were permanently excluded.
During the trial of the pupil responsible for the stabbing, it emerged that she had previously been caught with a knife in Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in September 2023, resulting in a fixed-term exclusion.
Welsh Government guidelines state that the use, or threatened use of an offensive weapon, can be considered an exceptional circumstance where a headteacher can permanently exclude a learner for a first or one-off offence.
Unaccredited schools
Children with complex needs are being sent to unaccredited online schools at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Online school placements can be commissioned by councils for children who are unable to cope in mainstream schools, usually due to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
According to a freedom of information request, 62 children in Somerset had funding to attend 14 unaccredited schools from April 2024 to January.
The placements cost Somerset Council more than £400,000 – double the amount spent during the previous full financial year.
Gold thefts
A Freedom of Information Act request asked West Yorkshire Police to reveal the number of Asian gold thefts in the county since January 2021.
The response showed there were seven recorded thefts in 2021 at a value of £28,600; eight recorded thefts in 2022 at a value of £51,200; 112 recorded thefts in 2023 at a value of £422,083; 133 recorded thefts in 2024 at a value of £547,852; and so far this year there have been 17 recorded thefts at a value of £54,250.
Drug driving
More than 1,000 people failed roadside drug driving tests in Cumbria between July 2023 and July 2024, new research has shown.
IAM RoadSmart FOI Data found more than half (51 per cent) of drivers tested positive during roadside testing in 2023, while in 2024, 49 per cent of drivers tested positive in the first seven months of the year.
Crown Estate costs
Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Sir Gâr councils together pay £105,589.29 in fees to the Crown Estate each year to allow public access to their land, according to new data.
The figure was revealed via freedom of information requests by the office of Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Mid and West Wales. According to Campbell, the information reinforces his party’s call for the devolution of responsibility for the Crown Estate to Wales.
Currently, Crown Estate profits are received and handled by UK Treasury on behalf of the royal family.
Buskers
Customers at a city centre audiologists are finding their hearing tests are noisier than expected as Haymarket buskers drown out their consultations.
The sound of street entertainers has become so loud for visitors and workers at Cecil Amey in Gentleman’s Walk that the business has made a deluge of complaints against the performers.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that the majority of 50 complaints lodged about city centre buskers between January and November last year came from the firm, which offers eye and hearing tests.
Cookies
A clever cookie has successfully revealed a sought-after school secret thanks to an oven-ready Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Despite being far from a typical query, a response from North Ayrshire Council was received within weeks of the request being made and has now been published online.
However, an industrial oven will be required for anyone aiming to replicate the recipe… as it makes approximately 200 of the biscuits.
The council’s response states that the baker will require two kilograms of: self-raising flour, oats, caster sugar and margarine. They will also need four teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda and four tablespoons of golden syrup.
Image by Lisa Fotios on Pexels
