Got views on the Freedom of Information Act in Scotland?
A Bill is currently working its way through the Scottish Parliament to update the Freedom of Information Act in Scotland. Changes range from the tiny (specifying that an email is an address for correspondence) to creating a new offence of destroying information so that it cannot be disclosed, even if no request for that information has been made
The committee’s convener Martin Whitfield MSP said: “If you are a user of the Freedom of Information Act, subject to its rules (or who may be, following the Bill), involved in interpreting requests or have an academic or public interest in the system, please do share your views on this Bill.”
The news reports so far aren’t clear on when the call for views closes. September 22 (or Monday) seems unlikely, not least because, despite being launched, it hasn’t actually gone live yet. It should show up on the Bill’s page on the Scottish Parliament website when its open for responses.
Sexual harassment
The number of workplace sexual harassment enquiries made to Acas has risen significantly in the wake of new legislation requiring employers to take stronger preventative measures, new research has found.
A freedom of information request submitted to Acas by law firm Nockolds revealed that, in the first half of 2025, calls to the Acas helpline asking for advice on harassment at work increased by 39 per cent to 5,583 – up from 4,001 in the same period last year.
This uptick coincides with the introduction of the Worker Protection Act 2023, which became law in October 2024 and imposes a legal duty on employers to actively prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
Troubled teens
Almost 1,500 teenagers were arrested by Herts police last year, but is the number rising?
A Freedom of Information Act request made by The Herts Advertiser has revealed that 1,491 children aged 13 to 19 were taken into custody in the county in 2024.
That number is actually the lowest for teenage arrests since 2018 – as far back as the force’s data goes – when 1,342 youngsters were arrested.
Mystery illness
More than 20 people fell ill when a ‘mystery virus’ broke out at an Edinburgh conference centre. At least two individuals, one heavily pregnant, were hospitalised overnight due to an outbreak of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
An independent investigation from the Edinburgh Council’s environmental health team concluded the illness was “most likely caused by a virus”.
The troubling incident happened in March 2024 at the Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue in St Mary’s Street and only came to light in a recent Freedom of Information request.
Overtime
Glasgow City Council has spent almost £100 million in the past five years on social care overtime and agency staff.
Statistics released to the Scottish Conservatives under freedom of information legislation show Scottish Councils spent £400.1 million between 2020 and 2025, with the relatively even split of £200.4 million in agency spend and £199.7 million in overtime.
During that time, the total annual spend on both across the country rose from £60.2 million to £85.7 million. Glasgow City Council spent the most, at £99.7 million.
The never-ending pothole
A pothole on a main road that was reported more than 230 times between January 2023 and February 2025 has reappeared. The recurring hole has opened up again in the left lane of Milton Roundabout, heading towards Cambridge over the A14.
Cambridgeshire County Council said investigations had identified a “failure of the bridge structure’s waterproof lining” as the cause of repeated potholes on the road above it.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that 18 work orders were issued for the pothole between 1 January 2023 and 20 February this year.
Average speeds
Some nice extra context on these FOI figures.
A freedom of information request published by Dorset Police has revealed that 16,420 vehicles were caught speeding by the average speed cameras on the A338 Spur Road in 2024, and so far this year.
Each day, an average of 40,000 cars pass through the average speed cameras on this section of the A338. And, for the period highlighted in the freedom of information request, an estimated total of vehicle movements, as stated by the police, has been 23,160,000.
This means approximately 0.07 per cent of cars were caught speeding in this zone, and 99.93 per cent of drivers adhered to the limits.
No parking
There are fewer than 100 disabled parking spaces for more than 10,000 Blue Badge-holders in Blackpool, it has emerged.
The figure was discovered by Brian Roberts, who is from Blackpool, after he repeatedly found it “near impossible” to park in the Lancashire seaside resort.
Using Freedom of Information laws, 66-year-old Mr Roberts found there were 96 spaces but 10,921 people with the badges – about one space for every 113 disabled drivers.
Gifts to officers
Not an FOI request, but information from the publication scheme, which you’ll usually find in the same section of the website as information on making FOI requests.
A list of items given to North Wales Police officers as tokens of gratitude have been revealed. The general rule is that officers are allowed to accept gifts, but staff are required to follow strict rules and declarations to prevent conflicts of interest to ensure their impartiality is maintained.
Most of the gifts accepted so far this year have been small tokens of thanks, mostly flowers, wine and chocolates. Among the gifts received were Welsh cakes, a Colin the Caterpillar cake, slightly out of date mince pies, very out of date choc chip cookies (disposed of at station), pet calming spray, and some eggs from a family farm.
Image by Malte Luk on Pexels
