Should the Freedom of Information Act be used to call out councillors who are behind paying their council tax?
A Derby councillor, who had previously been revealed to be in arrears following an FOI request, was again found to have received multiple reminders to pay after a follow-up request. They seem to now be up to date with payments.
Derby City Council Labour leader Nadine Peatfield said she finds it “disgraceful that both the opposition and press feel it’s appropriate to shame someone over their financial situation” and that the issue is “none of their business”.
Broadly, there’s a presumption that this information should be released. There may occasionally be exceptional circumstances where this personal information isn’t shared.
Interest in disclosure usually outweighs councillor’s right to privacy because this is residents’ business. Councillors who have tax arrears of more than two months are legally not allowed to vote on council tax.
Meanwhile, if you’re off to the Oasis concerts, try not to live up to Edinburgh Council’s stereotypes by being rowdy once you reach a medium to high intoxication level.
Prison response team
There has been a sharp increase in the number of times a specialist team that deals with serious incidents in prisons has been deployed in England and Wales, the BBC can reveal.
The National Tactical Response Group (NTRG), was called out 823 times in 2024 compared with 570 deployments in 2022, according to a Freedom of Information request.
The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) said there had been problems with concerted indiscipline – an incident in which two or more prisoners act together in defiance of lawful instruction – and violence.
The government said it was investing more in specialist teams to deal with serious incidents.
Seized guns
More than 6,000 firearms have been seized or surrendered in Norfolk over the past three years – including a machine gun arsenal and weapons owned by a police officer.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that Norfolk Constabulary recovered 6,259 firearms between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2025.
The force said firearms are removed for a variety of reasons, including domestic incidents, serious crime investigations, medical concerns and licensing breaches.
Financial leaks
The UK’s financial watchdog has expressed its concern after fresh figures found nearly two in five takeovers were reported in the press before being formally announced.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned the leaks, which can constitute a breach of market abuse rules, were triggering “price moves…caused by financial analysts or the media correctly predicting likely takeover targets.”
As many as 42 of the 110 M&A announcements made involving London-listed firms were reported on in the media prior to any official statement about the deals between April 2024 and May 2025, according to data obtained by the Financial Times under a freedom of information request.
Sewage leaks
More than £1.4m has been spent cleaning up sewage blockages in Scotland’s rivers and lochs over the last four years.
Figures received by The Herald via Freedom of Information (FOI) request show the extent of the damage cleanup costs.
Scottish Water spent £397,745 in 2021, £539,717 in 2022, £344,303 in 2023, and £136,268 in 2024; for a total of £1,418,033.
Missing driving tests
Hundreds of candidates are failing to attend driving tests that were booked, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
On average, a candidate fails to attend a test at both Bristol centres in Avonmouth and Kingswood every day, data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) shows.
While many learners find booking a test in their home city almost impossible, every day there is likely to be a test cancelled because nobody turns up, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
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