Thought getting answers to your Freedom of Information request was hard?
The annual Foilies name and shame the most repugnant, absurd and incompetent responses to US public records requests under FOIA and state transparency laws. And it’s a collection of high fees, denials, and ridiculous refusals that might make you feel a little better about your long-running battles.
If you think you’ve got a lot on, George Greenwood at The Times has “32 live ICO [Information Commissioner’s Office] complaints, seven live first-tier tribunal cases and one live upper-tier tribunal case“.
Acid attacks
Acid attacks have surged by 10 per cent in a year, data obtained by a freedom of information (FOI) request to police forces across the UK has revealed.
A total of 498 physical attacks involving corrosive substances were recorded in 2024, up from 454 in the previous year.
The Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI) charity, which conducted the analysis, said the real figure is likely higher due to under-reporting by victims.
Out of area care
A lack of places in Dudley means some children are sent away to other parts of the country.
Information obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service under the Freedom of Information Act revealed Dudley currently has 63 children on out of borough placements from a total of 581 looked-after young people.
The furthest placement from Dudley is 289 miles away while the average length of a placement is 591 days.
The longest current out of borough placement is 16 years and six months.
Teacher misconduct
Five Worcestershire teachers are currently accused of sexual misconduct involving children. The allegations are among 11 active allegations against teachers who have worked in the county.
In addition to the five accusations of sexual misconduct, there are three allegations of breaching boundaries or trust, one relating to drugs and psychoactive substance misuse, one regarding safeguarding and one of violence or forceful physical contact.
Worcester News obtained the figures via a Freedom of Information Request to the Teaching Regulation Agency, which requested the figures as of June 25, 2025.
Ambulance overtime
Scottish ambulance staff have worked more than 2.7 million hours of overtime, costing taxpayers almost £74 million – with concerns raised the pressures are “pushing already exhausted staff beyond breaking point”.
New statistics revealed under freedom of information legislation, showed 2,718,922 hours of overtime were worked by paramedics, ambulance technicians, care assistants and specialist nurses between 2020 and 2024.
The figure peaked in 2022, when 581,155 overtime hours were worked. While 2023 was the highest year for overtime spend, costing just shy of £15.7 million.
Ambulance call-outs
The number of South Central Ambulance Service Road Traffic Accident callouts has almost halved, suggesting people in the area are becoming safer drivers.
The data, uncovered by experts at RTA Law with a Freedom of Information request, has found that in 2022 there were 2066. In 2023 this dropped to 1180.
However, the most recent figures, from 2024, have dropped to 1169.
Drink-driving
Britain’s worst drink-driver would likely have downed around 22 drinks before getting behind the wheel.
The 39-year-old had alcohol levels in his system which were considered “potentially fatal” yet still chose to drive his car, putting other lives in danger.
He had a blood alcohol reading of 513 when stopped in July last year – six times the legal limit, and is the worst drink-driver caught on Britain’s roads over the last decade.
Details were revealed following a freedom of information request to the DVLA.
Assaults at bus stations
Police Scotland crime statistics, obtained under Freedom of Information law, show the Inverness’ Farraline Park station had three police call-outs in response to assault in the 2024/25 financial year.
That compares to three assaults in 2023/24 and is down from six in 2022/23.
Call-outs to assaults at Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station rose by 85 per cent from 20 in 2023-24 to 37 in 2024-25.
In the same period, assaults at Dunfermline Bus Station more than doubled and assaults at Dundee Bus Station increased four-fold.
Second jobs
The chair of a regional police federation has said officers are “struggling financially” after a Freedom of Information request revealed thousands of officers across the country were working second jobs.
The data showed more than 4,000 officers were approved for secondary employment in 2024, double the number recorded in 2019.
Long waits
Adults are waiting on average 618 days for an ADHD assessment at an NHS trust.
The figures for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust (TEWV) were released in a response to a Freedom of Information request.
The trust said waiting times could vary depending upon a number of factors, including whether individuals had an existing mental health diagnosis, while the local NHS care board said there had been a “major increase” in the demand for ADHD assessments and support services over the last few years.
New builds
Future haunted flats?
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council wanted to build 20 homes over a former burial site at its cemetery where paupers were interred.
A baby named Frances Sarah Day was among the 15 bodies buried in the pauper’s grave between 1873 and 1928.
Despite the council being told to exhume all of the remains before going ahead with its plans, it’s been revealed only four of the 15 bodies have been found.
A Freedom of Information request submitted to the council by campaign group Friends of the Tunbridge Wells Cemetery revealed only George Langridge, Maria Thomsett, George Cross and George Payne were found and exhumed.
Trouble at McDonald’s
Figures reveal that police were called out roughly once every three days to incidents at the city’s McDonald’s over the last year.
A freedom of information (FOI) request revealed that the golden arches received 125 callouts within the last year across its nine Norwich sites between June 2024 and May 2025.
This works out to one callout for the bobbie every 2.92 days.
BBQ emergencies
The emergency services responded to a Freedom of Information request to reveal that there have been 3,983 BBQ-related fires, 309 hospital admissions for barbecue injuries, issued 67 fines, had 160 ambulance call outs and handled 1,949 police incidents in the last three years.
The data shows that for every 100 emergency service responses to BBQ incidents, less than two result in enforcement action.
Lego thefts
Lego thefts are on the rise across Warwickshire with one shop revealed as the hardest hit. Figures released by Warwickshire Police in a Freedom of Information act request have shown the amount of Lego stolen from stores across the county have trebled in recent years.
The response also reveals the value of the amount of Lego stolen, including the number of items worth more than £500. The grand total of how much Lego was stolen tops almost £9,000.
The FOI also asked which stores were targeted the most and it revealed that B&M is hardest hit.
Image by Regenwolke0 on Pixabay
