With the warning that the Freedom of Information Act is under attack here are the best stories we have uncovered using the act in 2014.

Press Gazette: Warning that Freedom of Information remains 'under attack' as campaign marks ten years of the Act

Reporters prefer not to resort to FOI laws to get information, but more and more, council, NHS or public body press departments deflect complicated questions and ask journalists to send in an FOI request.

Navigating the complicated waters of making a request can take skill and time. Private Eye editor Ian Hislop told Press Gazette of the “the way people try and stop you using the Act in the hope that you’ll give up”.

But when it works, the results can make the effort worthwhile, even if it takes a long time, appeals or the ultimate intervention of the Information Commissioner to jolt councils and public bodies to answer properly.

And if you are a resident, business person, concerned citizen, or campaigner you can use the act too to get answers to whatever questions are concerning you. See the bottom of this story for some top tips.

Last year our journalists used the Freedom of Information Act to reveal:

And yes... the occasional frivolous request. 

How to make a request:

Councils and public bodies are supposed to publish as much information as they can online including the land they own, details of grants they have given out, senior salaries, and all payments to contractors over £500.

But if they don't, any question, however simple, you put in writing to them should be treated by them as a Freedom of Information request. That means they have to answer it unless there is a legal reason not to do so.

They can't simply say they don't want to tell you as they could do before the act came in.

Here's some more advice about making an FOI request. 

FOI Man’s Guide to Making FOI Requests

Have you made an interesting Freedom of Information request? Let us know at digitalmedia@london.newsquest.co.uk