Freedom of Information is political.
And not just in the sense that opposition parties are using it on a weekly basis in Scotland (see below).
In the US, among other things going on, unsurprisingly FOI is under attack. Teams that deal with FOIA requests have been entirely cut at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies on Tuesday, according to multiple current and former staffers who did not want to be named because of fears of retribution. A few people have been left standing on other FOIA teams within these agencies, for now.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had promised “radical transparency”, the cuts are likely to longer backlogs and delays in answering requests.
But if Freedom of Information requests are a way to try to hold the government to account, they’re one used by all sides. It’s generally that those not currently in power are keener than those currently in charge.
Drug deaths
Deaths related to ketamine are up 650% since 2015, with new figures showing one death ‘each week’ involving the drug across the UK.
Figures obtained by a Freedom of Information Request, and seen exclusively by ITV News, highlights the growing problem around the Class B drug.
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and obtained by The UKAT Group show three times as many women are losing their lives to the drug since before the Covid pandemic, with deaths from those under 30 years old involving the drug seeing a 300% rise in as many years.
Failing schools
Cash-strapped councils have in the past year paid £18.1 million to private special schools that have repeatedly failed standards inspections, a Schools Week investigation has found.
Over the past year at least four councils each spent more than £1 million on schools that failed repeatedly to meet the independent school standards. Surrey County Council spent nearly £6 million.
Dog attacks
A year on from the ban, figures obtained exclusively from freedom of information (FOI) requests to 32 police forces in England and Wales show there were 23,064 reported dog attacks over the 12 months to 31 January this year.
The real figure will be higher, with three forces – West Midlands, Sussex and Greater Manchester – providing data for only 11 months of the latest 12-month period.
The number, which is the equivalent of more than 60 attacks a day, is an increase on the year before and well up on the 14,212 attacks recorded five years ago.
Knives in schools
Police recorded 150 stabbings or other knife crimes causing injuries at schools across England and Wales last year, figures obtained exclusively by FactCheck show. That’s equivalent to four per school week.
The knife attacks are among at least 20,000 violent crimes recorded at schools by police forces in 2024, FactCheck’s figures show. And as just over half of police forces were able to provide data, the true extent of school violence is likely to be even greater.
Police allegations
New figures have revealed that over a period of around 14 months, 50 allegations of domestic abuse or sexual misconduct were made against serving PSNI officers.
Those allegations, revealed in a Freedom of Information request by Belfast Live, include two allegations of rape during the time frame of January 1, 2024 to February 23, 2025.
The FOI stated: “The sex of officers against whom allegations of domestic abuse or sexual misconduct (including rape) have been made is as follows: Male = 41 and Female = 9.
Informers
West Mercia Police paid informers more than £200,000 over the last five years, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
The force which covers Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire spent more than £55,000 in 2023-24 as part of a national “well-established and highly regulated tactic”. The figures for 2024-25 aren’t yet available. But the latest figures from 2019 to 2024 show a total spend fo £200,979.
West Mercia Police was also asked for the number of informers who have received payments during this period. They declined to answer this question, or even confirm that they hold the information.
Police assaults
The number of recorded assaults against full-time Cheshire Police and custody officers in 2024 has more than doubled since the start of Covid-19.
Figures revealed through a Freedom of Information request to Cheshire Police show that from January 1 to December 31, 2024, 561 police and detention officers were assaulted in the Cheshire policing region.
This was 236 more assaults recorded for the 12 months previously (325) while in 2022, there were 337 assaults, seven up from those recorded in 2021. However, from March 1 to December 31, 2020, there were just 190 assaults recorded, fewer than half of 2024’s amount.
Avoiding jail
A burglar was spared jail after being convicted of his 57th break-in, a Sun on Sunday probe reveals. The prolific offender had a total of 265 previous convictions.
He was among career criminals — including robbers, sex offenders and drug abusers — who dodged jail and were let off with non-custodial sentences such as suspended jail terms, community service and fines.
The offenders’ crimes were uncovered in a Freedom of Information Act probe.
Hospital sewage leaks
Sewage bubbled up in hospital sinks and drains in a catalogue of grim incidents across NHS Highland hospitals, including Raigmore in Inverness. Nearly 30 incidents were logged since 2019 in wards, A&E, patient accommodation and outside a kitchen window across the region.
At Raigmore A&E, sewage was coming up drains in a “contamination area”, according to the details released under freedom of information rules. A doctor’s toilet was also reported to have been overflowing and there was found to be “flooding” in the room.
Sewage was reported to be overflowing from sinks in the central core of one ward.
Taxi complaints
Complaints against 74 taxi drivers were filed with Telford & Wrekin Council in the past two years, according to data released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Of this total some 51 complaints were made against taxi drivers licensed by Telford & Wrekin Council. There were also 23 complaints that were filed against taxi drivers operating under the council’s jurisdiction but that were licensed by another local authority.
In response to a Freedom of Information request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council said that it took a range of measures in response.
This included revocation of a Dual Driver’s licence, to get them to undertake and pass the council’s nominated practical driving test and taxi knowledge test again; to issue verbal and written warnings, to pass complaints onto another department, for example parking enforcement.
Not so free parking
An alternative take on the many parking stories that come out of FOI.
More than 1,600 people paid a total of over £5,500 for parking in Hereford on an afternoon when it was supposed to be free, a freedom of information request has revealed. From noon onwards on Saturday, February 8, no payment for parking was required at most Herefordshire Council-owned parking spaces in the city.
The offer was made as part of the city business improvement district’s annual Love Hereford event, which aims to encourage people to come into the city and support local businesses, and was widely advertised – including on parking ticket machines.
But the machines were not disabled, meaning people could still buy tickets, and the council’s new JustPark app was still operational.
The council said the machines were still accepting payments on the day for people who wanted to park beyond the times of the promotion.
Tram crash
If you live in Manchester, car on the line can feel like an annoyingly common cause of tram delays. And the problem seems to be getting worse.
Crashes involving Metrolink trams and cars surged by 30 per cent last year, new data shows. There were 51 crashes between trams and cars on Greater Manchester’s roads in 2024, almost one a week, a freedom of information request revealed this week (April 2).
There were 39 incidents the year before, but 52 in 2022. During pandemic-hit years, when tram services were slashed, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) recorded 39 crashes in 2021 and 33 in 2020.
Delay repay
Nearly £2.5m has been paid out in compensation by ScotRail since the operator was nationalised, figures have shown.
A freedom of information request by the Scottish Conservatives found £2,495,426.28 has been paid out through the delay repay scheme since 2022.
That includes £803,991.61 that was paid out in 2022/23, £908,392.89 that was paid out in 2023/24 and £783,041.78 was paid out in 2024/25, although that figure only goes up to February 12 this year.
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