Lawyers and democratic services officers criticise Government refusal of freedom of information request on remote meetings ‘call for evidence’

Remote council meetings were allowed during the pandemic, but the Government declined to make the arrangements permanent and instead issued a call for evidence.

ADSO and LLG recently asked for all information received by the Government in relation to its call for evidence, which took place between March and June 2021, including a “breakdown of the responses received, the number received and the content of the responses, together with any documentation the government holds in respect of the analysis of those responses”.

The two groups received a response from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on 8 March which refused to provide the information they asked for.

Extracts from the response were provided by ADSO and LLG below:

“The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities has refused your request for information because it falls within section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Under section 14(1) of FOIA, the Department is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the request is deemed vexatious on grounds of burden.

“We believe that releasing this information at this stage serves no particular public interest and is outweighed by the level of burden imposed on the Department in processing your request. The Government does intend to respond to the call for evidence, and when we do, that response will include a summary of the responses received. We are therefore not obliged to consider your request any further.”

ADSO and LLG shared their disappointment with the Government’s “refusal to be open and transparent”, saying they disagreed with the view that it was not in the public interest to provide this information.

They added: “The call for evidence closed nearly two years ago. It is clear that the Government has done absolutely nothing with the 4,370 responses which were submitted in good faith.

“All those who took the time and trouble to respond deserve better. Had the Government processed the responses in a timely fashion once the Call for Evidence period closed, they would now have the information available for all to see. We have not had a satisfactory explanation for the delay.”

ADSO and LLG have confirmed that they will be asking for a review of the Secretary of State’s decision to “refuse to provide the information we asked for”.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said that the reason for not sharing the information was due to data protection, as the call for evidence responses contained personal data which would have been too costly to sort through and anonymise.

Last month, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) urged the House of Lords to back amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that would allow councils to hold remote meetings and suspend councilors who breach the code of conduct, amongst other measures.

NALC president Baroness Scott of Needham Market put forward the package of amendments for peers to consider on 16 February.

In a joint statement at the time ADSO and LLG said they welcomed and supported NALC in their efforts with regard to remote meetings.

Lottie Winson