http://www.yrtk.org A guide to the Freedom of Information Act & other access laws Tue, 06 May 2008 09:08:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Even the police now admit that CCTV is a complete waste of money. This quote from Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville of the Metropolitan Police says it all: "CCTV was originally seen as a preventative measure. Billions of pounds has been spent on kit, but no thought has gone into how ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/cctv-billions-of-pounds-of-failure/ Some details of MPs' Additional Costs Allowance have been released to me and are available in spreadsheet form here. http://www.yrtk.org/2008/details-of-mps-additional-costs-allowance/ When making a Freedom of Information request, I always ask for the response to be sent in electronic format if possible. It's cheaper, more convenient, and usually the form in which the information is being held anyway. So imagine my disappointment to receive the following response from the Parliamentary Archives of ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/records-mismanagement/ So what if the truth is inconvenient? The Times, April 1, 2008 By Heather Brooke A senior police worker is facing a disciplinary hearing for “damaging the reputation” of West Yorkshire police. Philip Balmforth is in trouble for granting an interview to The Times last month on Asian girls going missing from Bradford ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/article-pr-is-taking-over-our-public-institutions/ I was profiled in today's Guardian 'Interview'. I rule! hee hee. The online photo is a bit dodgy but there is a much better one in the full-page newspaper version so I suggest you rush out and get a copy while supplies last. I'm very pleased to know that I'm "one ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/profiled-in-the-guardian/ The farce continues! In their attempt to avoid disclosing details of MPs' expense claims, the House of Commons Commission and Speaker Michael Martin took the last-minute decision on Tuesday (March 25th 2008) to appeal the Tribunal's ruling to the High Court. When angry MPs yesterday tried to find out the ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/a-commons-lack-of-reasoning/ The Freedom of Information Act has claimed its first minister in the UK - Ian Paisley Jr. Investigations correspondent David Gordon at the Belfast Telegraph (who I'm honoured to say came on my FOI course a few months ago) used the law to dig into Paisley Jr's lobbying for a ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/first-ministerial-head-to-roll-from-foi/ Witch-hunt? MPs don't get it The Times, February 28, 2008 My battle to make MPs' expenses more transparent met with obstruction and mystification By Heather Brooke Nearly 15 years ago I found myself in a small office digging through boxes of receipts looking at the expense claims of local politicians. Everything was laid bare: ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/article-mps-just-dont-get-it/ Despite the late hour of publication, the Tribunal decision was picked up by most of the main papers and I've been making the rounds across various TV news programmes. But lest you think I'm getting big-headed about the publicity, I discovered today while sharing the Green Room at BBC Breakfast ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/decision-coverage/ Champagne all round - I won my case! Late today the Information Tribunal published its decision ordering the House of Commons to provide full disclosure of MPs' second home expenses claims. The decision is not yet on the Tribunal's website but you can download it here (PDF 2MB). The House is ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/tribunal-orders-full-disclosure/ The first testing stage of a new website that allows the public to request and track their own freedom of information requests is now live. MySociety built the site and I'm working with the developers to add more contacts lists and guides for making requests and dealing with obstructive or unhelpful ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/foi-filer-and-archive-goes-live/ I am expecting the final decision in my case for a detailed breakdown of MPs' Additional Costs Allowance to be published this week, so here as background, is the media coverage from the hearing. Sam Coates, political correspondent for The Times, also very generously published his transcript of the hearing. ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/tribunal-hearing-coverage/ The Press Gazette provides a build-up to the Big Event: Journalist’s battle could force MPs to declare every pound to press http://www.yrtk.org/2008/press-gazette-preview-of-the-tribunal-hearing/ My four-year-battle for transparency of MPs’ expenses will culminate on Thursday (February 7th) with a two-day hearing before the Information Tribunal for a full breakdown by receipts and claims of MPs’ Additional Costs Allowance. The hearing will see Andrew Walker, Director General of Resources for the House of Commons cross ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/my-tribunal-hearing-on-mps-expenses-this-thursday/ I've had my first feature profile in today's Scotland on Sunday about my battle with Speaker of the House Michael Martin over MPs' expenses: Taking The Mick http://www.yrtk.org/2008/taking-the-mick/ 31 January 2008 Four More Years for Scottish Information Tzar Allmediascotland - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK In his first five years, Kevin received more than 1500 appeals and issued over 550 decisions, including surgical mortality rates for all surgeons in Scotland; sex offender statistics; and an entire PFI/PPP contract. 29 January 2008 RATS FIRM SUPPLIED 150 SITES South Wales ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/foi-news-24-31-january/ Increasingly it appears that Speaker of the House Michael Martin is behind the House of Commons' stubborn refusal to disclose details of MPs' expenses. The House of Commons Commission led by the Speaker has rejected all my FOI requests in which I sought a breakdown of not just staff names and ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/sack-the-speaker/ In light of Gordon Brown’s announcement today that MPs’ expenses should be more transparent, I have re-submitted my original 2005 request seeking the names and salaries of MPs’ staff. In my new request submitted to the House of Commons Commission today I wrote: As you will be aware this is ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/another-foi-try-for-mps-staff-names/ The finding that Derek Conway MP misused his staff allowance for years is the inevitable result of a decision taken in 2006 by Speaker Michael Martin to ban all disclosure of the names and salaries of MPs’ staff. Way back in January 2005 I filed a freedom of information request seeking ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/secrecy-leads-to-mps-staffing-scandal/ A decision by the Information Tribunal published recently has further fueled my belief that the Data Protection Act is the worst piece of legislation currently on the books. The Press Gazette reported the result of London Borough of Camden v Information Commissioner in which the Tribunal upheld Camden's decision ... http://www.yrtk.org/2008/data-protection-act-makes-a-mockery-of-open-justice/