Media roundup

Hold the front page - Home Office supplies FOI answer within two hours
"The Journal in Newcastle is ready to claim a record for the fastest turnaround on a freedom of information request so far. Reporter Hayley Beattie received information from the Home Office less than two hours after putting a request in - despite a press officer telling her that the facts she wanted were commercial secrets."

This is London 13th April - Designers knew fountain would be slippery
"Designers of the troubled Diana Memorial in Kensington Gardens knew all along that the stone would be slippery when wet. Answers from the Culture Department under Freedom of Information rules also show that the ill-fated fountain has cost an extra £600,000 on top of the original capital budget of £2 million. The cost of repair work this year alone has grown from £150,000 to more than £200,000."

ICBirmingham 12th April - Hemming wants vote-fraud secrets
"The deputy leader of Birmingham City Council is using the Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to uncover secret Government deliberations on postal vote fraud"

Norwich Evening News - Norwich - a 'fine' city for drivers
"The Evening News can today reveal the hotspots across Norwich where parking attendants are most likely to pounce on motorists. Norwich City Council raked in nearly £800,000 worth of parking fines in the past year — and using the new Freedom Of Information Act we can name every street in the city where people have fallen foul of fines."

Newcastle Journal12th April - We gave Twizzlers the bird long ago
"Hospital bosses in Durham have banned Turkey Twizzlers from their menus. The Journal revealed yesterday that the fast food item condemned by Jamie Oliver in his Jamie's School Dinners TV series was being served to youngsters at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital. Further hospital menus obtained last night under the new Freedom of Information Act show some other hospitals in the region are feeding sick children the type of processed food blasted by the celebrity chef."


BBc News 12th April - Search for family who 'saw UFOs'
"Fresh reports of UFO sightings over Derbyshire have emerged with the release of government documents under the new Freedom of Information Act"
Canada
London Free Press - Watchdog to attack access law proposals
"OTTAWA -- Canada's information watchdog is set to harshly condemn government proposals to revise the federal freedom-of-information law. Information commissioner John Reid plans to attack Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's recently released discussion paper when he appears tomorrow before a Commons committee."