The Freedom of Information Act was created to make public bodies such as councils transparent. The Government re-examined the Act following complaints it was draining resources. An independent FOI Commission concluded the Act did not place an unnecessary ‘burden’ on public authorities. With every penny counting, perhaps now is the […]
Search Results for "freedom of information request"
FOI request finds how much North East councils earn from car parking penalties
By Jonathan Mackley, Rachel Cotton & Clarissa Jackson-Murphy SR News Freedom of Information request has found that North East councils have earned a total of £441,953 by issuing 19,213 car parking penalty charge notices (PCNs) in 2013 and 2014. As many as 7,264 of these fines were issued in Newcastle, making up […]
Animal rescue organisations “overwhelmed” by “horrendous” rise of lost and abandoned dogs
OUT-OF-DATE microchips and low lost dog reclaim rates during the COVID-19 pandemic are putting pressure on North East animal rescue organisations. Catherine Gillie, Regional Manager at Dogs Trust, told SR News: “Between August 2020 and January 2021 there was a 41 per cent increase in the number of visits to […]
Slight rise in online crime in the North East last year
THE number of crimes being committed online slightly dropped during last years first national lockdown, according to figures released by Northumbria Police to SR News following a Freedom of Information request (FOI). WHEN the nation entered it’s first national lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of online crimes […]
Crown courts backlog at critical level during pandemic, inspectors say
THE pandemic has caused a sharp rise in the backlog of crown court cases, with Newcastle leading in the North East with over 1,600 cases still waiting to be heard, an SR News investigation has found. DATA from freedom of information request (FOI) shows how in January 2020, Newcastle Crown […]
How the pandemic has exposed the true scale of the region’s homeless crisis
HOLD FOR PUBLICATION – RIGHT OF REPLY NEEDS TO BE GIVEN TO THE FIVE COUNCILS?HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS MENTIONED. NEIL MAC EXCLUSIVE An investigation by SR News today reveals how the pandemic is exposing the true scale of the region’s homeless population. We have found evidence of vulnerable people in crisis being […]
Teen pregnancy rates fall 145% since 2009
STATISTICS have shown that teen pregnancy rates in the UK have fallen to the lowest in a generation, dropping an astounding 145 per cent in the last decade. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed there were 15,644 conceptions in Under-18’s in 2018 compared to 38,259 […]
Climate emergency: Only 1 out of 6 UK council cars are electric
ONLY one out of six cars used by UK councils are electric, despite most of them have declared a climate emergency, an SR News investigation has found. This represents 1,161 out of 5,899 total cars. Over 40 per cent of councils don’t have electric vehicles (EVs) and only 0.6 per […]
Revealed: the cost of council home-working to the region’s taxpayers
EXCLUSIVE AS TYNE and Wear continues to adjust to remote working, figures exclusively obtained by SRNews show how much local authorities have spent on working from home. A Freedom of Information request to the five councils in Tyne and Wear (Sunderland, South Tyneside, North Tyneside Newcastle and Gateshead) reveals […]
Revealed: The Least Used Stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro
Pallion station is the least used station on the Tyne and Wear Metro line, it has been revealed. Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information Request by SR News show that Pallion was the least used station on the network in the year 2018/19 with just 209,148 passengers using […]