A quick detour to Freedom of Information in the US (although I think it reflects a pretty common attitude towards FOI).
November 2024: Elon Musk posted on social media, “There should be no need for [Freedom of Information Act] requests. All government data should be default public for maximum transparency.”
Currently: The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to halt lower courts’ demands for depositions and discovery in a legal battle over Freedom of Information Requests for the Department of Government Efficiency. Their argument is DOGE is a presidential advisory board and therefore not subject to FOIA.
This is a pretty helpful background on the US Freedom of Information Act.
Back to the UK…
Want to send an FOI request but don’t know where to start? Or have made some requests but need help getting a response or challenging a refusal?
Bullying
The number of incidents of racism or racist bullying recorded in Scotland’s schools increased by 50% last year, figures obtained by BBC Scotland News reveal.
According to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to all 32 councils there were more than 3,600 incidents last year, compared to 2,400 the year before.
Campaigners say the true figure will be far higher as councils are not complying with Scottish government guidance to log all incidents properly.
The Scottish government said one of the reasons for the increase could be improved reporting.
Hospital appointments
New data obtained by Full Fact reveals that a 3.6 million rise in the number of hospital appointments—celebrated by the government as a “massive increase”—is actually smaller than the increase achieved the year before.
Previously unpublished NHS data going back to 2018, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that the specific appointments that were the focus of Labour’s pledge to deliver additional activity had already been increasing for several years. The rise hailed by Labour is actually less than in the equivalent period in 2023/24, and broadly similar to the one in 2022/23.
Stolen petrol
At least £6.5m of fuel has been stolen in more than 130,000 drive-offs at petrol station forecourts over the past five years, new figures suggest.
Analysis of police data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act shows there have been an average of 505 incidents every week of cars driving off without paying at petrol forecourts across England and Wales over the past five years.
That rose to a peak of 635 per week in 2022, equating to more than 33,000 such thefts that year, when fuel prices spiked to record highs. The statistics were obtained from 33 out of the UK’s 45 police forces, which shared their data with the outlet Forecourt Trader.
Stolen car parts
A freedom of information request to England and Wales’ police forces has revealed Japanese-brand cars dominate the list of top 10 models most at risk of catalytic converter theft.
The statistics, from Go.Compare car insurance, reveal Toyota Auris owners are most at risk of catalytic converter theft. One in every 157 Toyota Auris has had a catalytic converter taken.
Next up is the Lexus CT 200h, with one in 162 cars suffering catalytic converter theft. The Toyota Prius and Honda FR-V are joint third, on one in 196.
XL Bullies
The licensing of XL Bully dogs has meant there has been several follow-ups on how that has been working.
New data released by Derbyshire police reveals a shocking number of XL Bully dogs put to sleep in recent years. The figures, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show the breed rising from having no reported seizures at the beginning of the decade to seeing more than 80 dogs put to sleep in the last two years.
The data also offers a breakdown of the number of incidents where a dog has reportedly attacked a person or an assistance dog, although these figures are not broken down by breed. From 2019 to 2025, there have been 3,529 reports of dog attacks in Derbyshire, with 226 dogs put to sleep in this period.
Dating scams
West Yorkshire is among the regions hit hardest by dating scams that cost UK victims over a quarter of a billion pounds in three years, according to new data released by Action Fraud.
In response to a Freedom of Information request sent by fraud recovery experts Action Fraud Claims Advice, the national reporting centre for fraud revealed that there were 21,976 reports of dating scams received between 2022/23 and 2024/25.
Based on self-reported losses, West Yorkshire victims parted with a nearly £7.5 million, after being manipulated by scammers pretending to pursue a romantic relationship.
Image by Jakub Zerdzicki on Pexels
