Media update

National News

Green Ribbon - Viktor Bout FOI reply
"noted here some time ago that I had put in a freedom of information request about the MOD's use of airlines linked to the Russian Arms dealer Viktor Bout. The MOD did reply by 16 November, and so it's probably about time I posted their response here as promised. Below is what I received from Defence Supply Chain Operations and Movements at the Defence Logistics Organisation."


The Scotsman - VisitScotland faces complaint over refusal to divulge ETourism details
"VISITSCOTLAND, the tourism agency, is to be referred to the Scottish Information Commissioner for its repeated refusal to provide details of its contractual relationship with ETourism Ltd, the largely French-owned company behind the VisitScotland.com website."

The Guardian - Multinationals, not farmers, reap biggest rewards in Britain's share of CAP payouts
"The largest individual payments made to the UK under the much criticised common agricultural policy are going to multinational food companies and not, as commonly assumed, to farmers. A Guardian investigation into CAP payments has found that millions of pounds are being paid to manufacturers of bulk fats and sugars used to produce processed foods."

The Mirror - POLICE, CAMERAS NO ACTION
"POLICE officers have been caught more than 5,000 times on speed cameras - but none were booked or disciplined.Road safety groups are now calling for action after the figures came to light under the Freedom of Information Act."


Computer Weekly - Opinion: openness, accountability and awareness of risk are vital for ID card scheme to succeed
"Recently the Home Office became the latest department to decline Computer Weekly's application under the Freedom of Information Act for the publication of Gateway reviews. It decided not to publish edited versions of its three Gateway reviews on the ID cards project. It also declined our request to publish risk registers for the project, or edited versions of them."

Local News

BBC news - Figures reveal 'speeding police'
"Using the FOIA the BBC asked forces in the East - including Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Suffolk - for details on speeding police staff."


ICSurreyonline - 'Farceway four' facing the rap for £5.7m overspend
"County council transport chiefs revealed disciplinary procedures had been brought against four officers, but refused to release their names or the roles they played in the project. The News has already submitted a request for the details under the Freedom of Information Act because we believe council taxpayers have a right to know."

US FoI

Boston Globe - Civilian worker data kept secret: Researchers sue government over 900,000 left out
"Breaking a tradition of openness that began in 1816, the Bush administration has without explanation withheld the names and work locations of about 900,000 of its civilian workers, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday. 'Citizens have a right to know who is working for the government," said Adina Rosenbaum, lawyer for the co-directors of the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, a research group at Syracuse University, who sued under the Freedom of Information Act to get the data."