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Freedom Of Information Act To Remain: Here Are Eight Things We Wouldn't Have Known Without It

8 Things You Wouldn't Have Known Without Freedom Of Information
Sarah Ann Harris
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File photo dated 06/08/13 of someone using a laptop keyboard, as the Government announced that there will be no legal changes to the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act after a review of the legislation found it was "working well".
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

A decision not to charge for Freedom of Information (FoI) requests has been hailed as a "victory for journalism".

The government revealed on Tuesday that there will be no legal changes to the FoI Act after a review of the legislation found it was "working well".

Many journalists praised the decision on Twitter:

FoIs have been used to uncover all sorts of information, from highly scandalous stories to issues simply useful to the man in the street.

We've rounded up some of the things we wouldn't have known without FoIs:

Things We Wouldn't Know Without Freedom Of Information Requests [LIST]
MP fiddling their expenses(01 of08)
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The full extent to which MPs were fiddling their expenses was revealed by an FoI request after journalist Heather Brooke smelled a rat. The Telegraph went on to break the story.

Without it, we wouldn’t have known about floating duck islands, Horlicks, garlic presses and horse manure apparently required to keep this country’s government working.

The scandal saw seven MPs handed prison sentences and led to the resignation of six ministers and the speaker. (credit:alice-photo via Getty Images)
Just how bad Prince Charles’ handwriting is(02 of08)
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The ‘Black Spider Memos’, written in 2004 and 2005 were finally released in 2015 after a decade of wrangling.

The Prince of Wales’ wrote to Tony Blair and his ministers to discuss British forces' lack of adequate equipment in Iraq, beef farming and badger culling.

They also revealed his love for the Patagonian Toothfish. (credit:John Stillwell/PA Wire)
Police unlawfully using Stop and Search(03 of08)
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There were errors in the authorisation of 40 stop and search operations, the Guardian reported after an FoI in 2010.

Some 14 forces were found to be involved in the scandal.

Forces had to try to find those involved in order to apologise to them for the error. (credit:Katie Collins/PA Archive)
A rise in children being tasered (04 of08)
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Taser use against children by the Metropolitan Police rose nearly six-fold over four years, figures obtained by FoI revealed.

Stun guns were used on children 131 times between 2008 and 2012 across all but nine London boroughs, rising from nine in 2008 to 53 in 2012.

The figures were published as part of a wider report into children and human rights in London. (credit:seanfboggs via Getty Images)
Just how short home visits to the elderly were(05 of08)
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Concerns were raised over the treatment of elderly people when an FoI revealed that council visits were lasting a matter of minutes in over half a million cases, the Telegraph reported.

Eight councils between them provided over 593,000 care visits to pensioners lasting five minutes or less over three years from 2010/11 to 2012/13.

Many more lasted just 15 minutes or less, prompting care minister Norman Lamb to warn that such short visits do not give enough time to help people wash, dress and get out of bed. (credit:Foto Bureau Nz Limited via Getty Images)
The sort of dangerous criminals on the run(06 of08)
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Last year the Mirror reported that an FoI resulted in the Ministry of Justice disclosing that almost 500 wanted criminals, including murderers, paedophiles and rapists, had been at large in Britain for more than five years.

Some 499 wanted criminals were revealed to be evading police and the authorities - including 53 violent offenders, 12 of which were murders handed life sentences.

The group also contained 27 sex offenders, including 10 rapists and two paedophiles. (credit:olli0815 via Getty Images)
The number of soldiers suffering from mental health issues linked to an anti-malaria drug (07 of08)
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The Ministry of Defence was accused of knowingly risking the mental health of its own soldiers after an FoI revealed that almost 1,000 service people need psychiatric treatment after taking an anti-malaria medication.

The Independent reported that 994 service men and women had received psychiatric help after being prescribed Lariam since 2008.

The now-discredited drug has been linked to suicidal thoughts, psychosis, depression and hallucinations. (credit:ChrisSuperseal via Getty Images)
How disgusting your local takeaway is(08 of08)
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Back in the early days of FoIs, Bridgend Council in south Wales refused an FOI request for a food hygiene inspection report for a local hotel, according to the BBC.

This was overruled by the Information Commissioner, which went on to set a precedent and now food hygiene scores are routinely disclosed.

FoIs are not required for this any more and many eateries display their own scores voluntarily. (credit:Jonathan Knowles via Getty Images)

An independent commission examined the law amid claims by some parts of the public sector that it was placing too much of a burden on them and restricting officials' ability to provide confidential advice to ministers.

But Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock said there would be no wholesale changes to the law, and pledged to encourage transparency in the public sector.

He said: "After 10 years, we took the decision to review the Freedom of Information Act and we have found it is working well.

"We will not make any legal changes to FOI. We will spread transparency throughout public services, making sure all public bodies routinely publish details of senior pay and perks. After all, taxpayers should know if their money is funding a company car or a big pay off."

The prospect of changes to FOI triggered a backlash from journalists, opposition politicians and transparency campaigners.

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Data watchdog Christopher Graham told the cross-party commission examining the system that the laws did not prevent officials providing advice to ministers.

Giving evidence in January the Information Commissioner said he was "rather impatient" with critics who claimed the law was a "disaster" because of the impact on Whitehall decision-making.

The Times reported that the Government will not introduce fees for FOI applications as they would "deprive the media of the tools they need to pursue important investigations that are in the public interest".

Cabinet minister Chris Grayling has previously accused journalists of "misusing" the laws to "generate" stories.

But the newspaper said the Government would defend the right to use the ministerial veto to ensure that the executive has the "final say as to whether information should be released under the Act".

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