Another week, another data breach in a Freedom of Information release.
As the fallout from the PSNI data breach continues, you’d think other public bodies would have learned.
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has written to 8,100 current and former employees after an editable spreadsheet was “inadvertently disclosed” as part of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. It contained names and job titles of staff together with information about sickness absences.
One concern is the NHS Trust’s action to introduce a new process to ensure electronic spreadsheet files were disabled before any FOI disclosure. Alongside the reference to the original spreadsheet being ‘editable’, it suggests password protection and read-only mode.
Which are stupidly easy to bypass. Including accidentally (uploading an Excel file to Google Sheets can give you access to protected hidden sheets). Sending only the information needed to answer a request (and checking that) in a CSV (one sheet, no hidden columns, cuts links to pivot tables) is the best option. The ICO has good guidance on this, that apparently no one read.
Hard to contact
Public bodies like an FOI contact form. Usually it helps feed requests straight into their requests management system and just makes life easier for them.
Some like them so much, they make finding alternative routes to making a request as difficult as possible. Like Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, which is the only council in Northern Ireland not operating a dedicated FOI email inbox.
This is nothing new. The Department for Education hasn’t listed an FOI email on its site for years.
However, online forms aren’t always as easy for requesters. They’re not always accessible and they make tracking requests (especially unanswered ones) harder (no, I shouldn’t have to screenshot them).
ICO advice is online forms are fine, but you can’t make people use them (and you definitely can’t ignore valid requests from other routes). Public bodies should have an email address as a clear way to get in touch.
And if you don’t have a dedicated FOI email, requesters can just send FOI requests to any email at the public body. These will still count as received and in need of answering within 20 working days. The ICO will still issue a decision notice for an overdue response if you don’t answer them.
So (in the interests of helping Google):
How to make a Freedom of Information request to Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council? Try one of these email addresses:
- General enquiries: enquiries@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk
- Press office: press.enquiries@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk
- Complaints: Customer.Care@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk
- Chief Executive David Burns: david.burns@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk (you could also email other members of senior management)
- You could also copy in the specific department your request relates to (like bins, food hygiene, and dog mess)
This week’s FOI stories…
Fire attacks
Bothwell in Lanarkshire has seen a string of late night arson attacks on restaurants, homes and cars since 2021 – believed to have been ordered by organised crime hoods.
Figures released by Police Scotland under Freedom of Information show there have been 27 attacks – known as wilful fire-raising in Scotland – between 2021 and October this year.
The most recent firebombing was at the Nel & Co eatery on Bothwell’s Main Street which was gutted by fire in an attack early on October 22, while the nearby Cut steak restaurant was also badly damaged by another suspected petrol bomb in September.
No firefighters
A rural fire station in Hampshire was unavailable to attend callouts 93% of the time over a one-year period (2022), new figures have revealed.
A BBC freedom of information request also showed one-in-five retained fire stations were unavailable for more than half of the year in 2024.
The vast majority (85%) of fire stations in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are crewed by on-call firefighters, not full-time staff who are called out when there is an incident. But there are times where not enough crew are marked as available so the appliance cannot be deployed.
No nurses
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has revealed that there are at least 1,481 registered nurse vacancies across NHS Wales, with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board holding the largest number.
Data obtained by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) through Freedom of Information requests shows that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has the highest number of registered nurse vacancies in Wales, with 451.5 posts currently unfilled.
Indecent exposure
Between April 1, 2020 and November 6, 2025, there were 1,499 reports of indecent exposure made to Devon & Cornwall Police, an FOI request shows. Of the 1,499 reports, 1,362 resulted in a crime.
The number of reports has increased year on year since 2020. In 2020 there were 143 reports, compared to 335 in 2025.
Flag removal
Data from Norfolk County Council indicates the authority handled a total of 139 complaints about the St George’s Cross flags, which were put up by members of the public over the summer.
The new figures, revealed following a Freedom of Information request, show the only flag removed was on Burgh Road roundabout, near Bradwell, where it was considered to be a danger to road users.
This means that all the other flags which have since vanished from the streets were removed by members of the public.
Uninsured drivers
New figures obtained from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) show male drivers account for the large majority of uninsured‑driving offences across Northern Ireland.
Data gathered by CompareNI.com via a Freedom of Information request show 5,735 uninsured‑driving offences detected between September 1, 2024 and August 31, 2025. Male drivers were recorded as committing 4,806 of those offences compared with 920 by female drivers, meaning men represented roughly 84% of offences in the year.
Super speeders
A freedom of information request to all 45 UK police forces – of which 32 responded – revealed that between September 2024 and August 2025, more than three million drivers received speeding endorsements.
These are drivers who were either pulled over by cops or caught by speed cameras.
And more than 1,500 of them were commandeered for speeding over 112mph.
Empty homes
The number of empty homes across the West Midlands has risen by more than a third in a year, leading to calls for councils to be given extra powers to tackle it.
The BBC submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to 19 local authorities across the region, which revealed at least 16,000 properties had been empty for more than six months.
In Herefordshire, the number of empty homes has gone up 84%, the highest figure in the West Midlands.
Electric vehicle charging spots
Thousands of fines are being sent to drivers parking in electric vehicle (EV) charging bays without charging, according to Freedom of Information Act or FOI data.
In 2020 there were 8,642 fines, followed by 13,588 (+57.2%) a year later. 2022 saw 22,251 (+63.8%) fines, rising to 32,368 (+45.5%) a year later, and then 46,128 (+42.6%) in 2024.
Housing disrepair
New data from a Freedom of Information request by Veritas Solicitors uncovers that housing disrepair complaints have increased by 560% since 2020.
The data covers some of the UK’s largest city councils, including Cardiff, which recorded the highest number of complaints at 2,298 since 2020, followed by Manchester (2,092), Leicester (1,648), and City of Westminster (1,615).
Noisy streets
Last year there were hundreds of noise complaints from residents in Peterborough – with issues ranging from church bells ringing to fireworks going off.
However, according to a Freedom of Information Request put in to Peterborough City Council, there was only one prosecution made, for a breach of noise abatement notice.
The streets with the most complaints were London Road, with 14, and Lincoln Road and East Station Road, both with 18.
Email silence
A Reform UK councillor has been accused of being “completely absent” after it was revealed he has sent just two emails and attended one council meeting since beginning his job in May.
Northumberland County Councillor Shaun Knowles has been accused of “wasting taxpayer money” by taking £9,340 of his salary since taking office six months ago.
Despite receiving 948 emails from May to mid November – a Freedom of Information request revealed he has only sent two messages from his official address.
Conservative councillor Wayne Daley, who sent the request, and who represents Cramlington North, said he has tried to contact Mr Knowles numerous times after being “inundated” by his constituents in Cramlington South West saying he does not respond.
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