Media update

Scotsman- Complaints soar as public's right to know is denied
"PUBLIC bodies that consistently fail to comply with Freedom of Information legislation are to be named and shamed as part of a crackdown on the way they operate, The Scotsman can reveal."

Scotsman - Lack of cash may have hit hepatitis C patient search
"HUNDREDS of patients who contracted hepatitis C through infected blood products may not have been traced because of a lack of funding from the health service, documents showed yesterday."

Daily Telegraph - Blair 'dodged tax by not paying business rates on home office'
"However, that would make Mr Blair liable to pay business rates on the office, and, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, he has made no such payments."

FT.com - Ministers rattled by Gazprom’s advances
"Ministers and officials went into a series of hurriedly arranged meetings to agree a line. Eight meetings involving Department of Trade and Industry officials – four attended by other departments – were held to discuss the “possible consequences resulting from any takeover of a major GB energy supplier”, the DTI said in response to a Freedom of Information request by the FT."

Regional news
Cambridge Evening News - Bans from school hit 1,000
"In the 2005 autumn term, from September to December, a massive 1,007 pupils were suspended from secondary schools in the county - more than 13 each day....The figures, which were released by Cambridgeshire County Council following a request under the Freedom of Information Act, also show 22 students were suspended for theft, 38 for verbally abusing other pupils and eight for damaging property."

Hamstead and Highgate Express - £3million Camden nest egg going begging
"Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Ham&High has learned that of the £3.5million received in exchange for planning permission over the past two years, just £346,149 has been spent."

Bath Chronicle - SALE WOULD HAVE SAVED US MILLIONS
"B &NES Tories have used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a letter sent by the Millennium Commission to long-time spa critic Dan Norris MP. The letter proved the council could have sold the spa two years ago without losing its £8m Commission grant."