We’re all about Freedom of Information successes here.
Usually getting an FOI answered, particularly from central government, can feel like an uphill struggle. But sometimes the opposite happens…
“My jaw dropped – I thought there was no way they’re going to give over this data.” – Chris Stokel-Walker, for New Scientist, made an FOI request for UK’s technology secretary, Peter Kyle’s ChatGPT request logs following his recent interview with PoliticsHome, in which the politician was described as “often” using ChatGPT.
(FOI Friday is not written by AI – tried it once, very annoying!)
This is also a reminder if you see something and think, I wonder if there’s any records on that, that’s a good time to put in an FOI request, sometimes you get a good answer.
Everyone’s quite surprised the government handed over the information with minimal fight (just a need for a revised request to focus on ChatGPT logs related to work), rather than delaying, refusing and dragging this out to an ICO/tribunal decision. It also sets a bit of a precedent for asking for similar information elsewhere.
Unfortunately with FOI, even when you have actual precedent (it only counts for decisions from the Upper Tier Tribunal), it still may not make life any easier.
Back in March 2016, the UTT relating to Bradford Council refusing to name councillors late paying their council tax said “a councillor’s default in paying council tax is a serious matter of public concern, both as to the ability of the councillor to perform his key functions and in terms of public confidence and accountability”.
As such FOI officers should lean towards releasing this information (except in exceptional circumstances). Bradford Council (ironically) is currently refusing to name councillors who haven’t paid their council tax on time.
This one is now heading for an ICO decision, and it’ll be interesting to see if the circumstances are actually exceptional (they didn’t turn out to be in Liverpool with a similar refusal)
REMINDER: I’m running a FREE training session on Tuesday, March 18 between 7pm and 8pm (GMT) doing an intro to the Freedom of Information Act in the UK. I’ll be going through what the Act is, how to make a request and the things you can do if you don’t get a useful answer.
If this is of interest, you can sign up for the training here (there will also be a recording available if you’re interested but can’t make it to the live session).
Toxic towns
Thousands of sites potentially contaminated with toxic chemicals in Britain have never been checked by councils, a BBC investigation has found.
Nine out of 10 “high-risk” areas have not been tested by councils responding to a BBC Freedom of Information request and scientists fear they could pose a health risk as they are thought to contain substances such as lead or arsenic.
The BBC Shared Data Unit found of 13,093 potentially toxic sites that councils have identified as high risk, only 1,465 have been inspected.
The UK government said local unitary authorities had a statutory duty to inspect potentially contaminated sites but councils claim they do not have the money to do it.
Ketamine
A total of 86 people, including children, were investigated for possessing, intending to supply or supplying ketamine in Dorset between 2020 and 2024, FOI shows.
It comes after the latest government figures showed that the drug’s usage among 16 to 24-year-olds in England has tripled since 2016.
Dorset’s assistant coroner wrote to the home secretary last month over concerns about “the increasing number of young people presenting with potentially fatal health problems” after using the class B drug.
Unfilled shifts
More than 32,000 shifts, meant to have been staffed by doctors in hospitals across the capital, were left unfilled over a six-month period in 2024, according to the British Medical Association (BMA).
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted by the BMA revealed that across 23 London trusts at least 32,576 shifts were offered to doctors but not filled.
The BMA has warned that the scale of unfilled shifts is having a “detrimental impact” on patient care and means remaining doctors are left working “increasingly understaffed and challenging” shifts.
Empty homes
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that there are currently hundreds of council houses standing empty in Northumberland.
The FOI, submitted by a member of the public and seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, stated that there were 310 council homes across Cramlington, Blyth and the Seaton Valley standing empty as of February 26, with 220 of these in Blyth itself. According to figures, the council has lost more than £780,000 in rent across the last year alone due to empty properties.
The council’s cabinet member for housing, Coun Colin Horncastle, has said the number of empty properties has now reduced to 288. He also argued that the county’s figure was comparatively low.
Underage drivers
In response to a Freedom of Information request, Hertfordshire police confirmed that 25 people were arrested for underage driving during the year.
Four of the incidents took place in Broxbourne, while East Herts, North Herts, Stevenage, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield saw two incidents each. There was one incident in each of Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans and Three Rivers, and the district or borough was unknown for seven incidents.
While 25 underage drivers were arrested, some were also arrested for other offences such as drug driving or dangerous driving.
Mind the gap
The iconic ‘mind the gap’ warning is needed on the London Underground as hundreds of passengers fell between the platform and Tube trains last year.
Last year, 522 customers were injured in passenger train interface (PTI) incidents, the official name for when people fall between the carriage and platform. There were a total of 1,893 incidents last year, and in the past five years, six people have died after falling in, according to TfL figures.
University salaries
Student journalists – FOI your university!
The University of Edinburgh’s vice-chancellor, Sir Peter Mathieson, received a £9,247 pay rise in January, a Freedom of Information Request by The Student has found.
Mathieson’s basic salary now stands at £379,120, making him Scotland’s second highest-paid vice-chancellor, only recently overtaken by the University of Stirling’s Sir Gerry McCormac.
Green space
The amount of money being spent to maintain Weymouth’s green spaces has drastically decreased for three years in a row.
Four years ago, the council spent over half a million pounds looking after green areas across Weymouth, including cemeteries, allotments, parks and gardens. Spending reduced to £235,445 in the last financial year, marking a 58 percent decrease in public spending on parks and green spaces.
In line with the decrease in spending, income derived from the green spaces reduced by 59 percent from 2021 to 2024 from £178,603 to £72,978, a Freedom of Information request revealed.
Accident book
People trapped in a lift and a dog biting a staff member are among a litany of accidents recorded in a council’s “blunder book” in the last five years.
A Freedom of Information request reveals all of the accidents to have occurred in Great Yarmouth Borough Council-owned buildings between January 2020 and January 2025.
Eleven of the noted incidents occurred at the council’s Town Hall headquarters in Hall Plain in Great Yarmouth.
Uninsured memorials
The C-listed cast iron Paterson Memorial Clock – partially designed by celebrated Victorian architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson – had stood in Bridge of Allan’s Henderson Street for 126 years. It was hit by the vehicle in December last year.
The Observer submitted a Freedom of Information request in December to ask if Stirling Council held insurance for the Paterson Clock and – following appeal – a response was eventually received last week, stating it did not hold insurance for the structure.
A council spokesperson this week commented: “In line with most local authorities, Stirling Council does not insure public memorials and unsupervised structures.
“They are difficult to value accurately and insurance cover, even when available, is prohibitively expensive.”
Image by Pixabay on Pexels
