FOI generates 1,000 reports in second year, says new report

In the second year of Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, more than 1,000 stories based on disclosures made under the FOI act were reported in the regional and national newspapers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2006-7.

The figures, released in a report from the Campaign for Freedom of Information, are broken down into subject categories ranging from drugs and the economy, to ghosts and psychic powers.

Among the most popular topics (in no particular order) are:

  • Policing with 128 stories from FOI requests – which doesn’t include a separate category on ‘policing costs’
  • Health (110)
  • Education (65)
  • Transport (36)
  • Prisons (35)

There’s even one FOI story on FOI from the Belfast Telegraph about the University of Ulster proposing to introduce fees for releasing information under FOI.

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