Law firm report on handling of street tree FOI requests by council finds no evidence information deliberately withheld, but criticises recording and labelling as “inappropriate”

An independent report carried out by law firm Bevan Brittan has been published by Sheffield City Council, following a complaint from a member of the public regarding the way in which freedom of information (FOI) requests on its ‘historic street tree management programme’ have been dealt with.

The council commissioned Bevan Brittan to conduct an independent evaluation into the allegations that disclosable information was marked ‘Not subject to FOI’ and being incorrectly withheld as a result.

The investigation was completed in July 2022, however the council have only this week made the report public, after it had time to “digest its findings”.

The report has been shared with the Information Commissioner’s Office and the ongoing Independent Inquiry into the ‘Street Trees Dispute’ that arose when thousands of trees were felled as part of the council’s Streets Ahead highways management programme.

The Bevan Brittan report concluded that the investigators had “not seen evidence that information was deliberately withheld to avoid publication”, however it found that practices used to record and label information were ‘inappropriate’.

The report said: “We have seen evidence that the intended purpose of the labelling process was to flag information, which is sensitive, for the Information Management Team to then review carefully before making decisions on disclosure under FoIA, and not to intentionally withhold information which should otherwise be disclosable.

“The council had in some instances undertaken a practice of labelling information arising from the tree felling programme which they considered to be sensitive as ‘Not Subject to FOIA.’ This practice was inappropriate.”

It added: “Officers accept this and the practice is (as far as we are aware) no longer used.”

Bevan Brittan offered a number of key recommendations for the council to follow in the future:

• The council should review its Standard Operating Procedures and guidance to ensure it sets out each stage of the process from the receipt of a new request to the provision of the response to the applicant.
• It should review its record management system in relation to FoIA/EIR requests and implement measures to ensure that, for each request, the following information is logically stored and easily retrievable.
• The council should consider and if practical establish a system whereby FoIA/EIR responses are reviewed and signed off by a member of the management team.
• It should review the numbers of FoIA/EIR requests/workload being handled by the IMT and consider whether the council would benefit from additional resource within IMT.
• In relation to the Tree Requests and General Requests where the law firm has found that the exemption in s.42 FoIA/re. 12(5)(b) EIR was incorrectly applied, the council should revisit the information and consider whether it can and should be disclosed to the relevant applicants.
• The council should review its FoIA training for all employees to raise awareness around the scope of FoIA and EIR and how the exemptions can be applied in practice.

These recommendations can be read in full in the report.

Leader of Sheffield County Council Terry Fox said: “We commissioned Bevan Brittan to write this report as we take our statutory duties seriously and wanted to ensure that any areas where we fall short could be identified and acted on.

“Although the report makes for uncomfortable reading in parts and does not reflect what we want to be as an organisation, we welcome the recommendations and are committed to implementing the necessary changes to improve how we handle requests for information.”

Cllr Fox added: “Maintaining our commitment to openness and transparency in relation to the management of street trees remains a priority and now that we have had time to digest its findings, we will make the report public, as we have done today [5 December], and share with the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Independent Inquiry into the Street Trees Dispute.

“We have come a long way in our approach to street trees, thanks to the new Street Tree Strategy, and the work of the partnership, but will continue to welcome these opportunities for further learning and reflection.”

The Independent Inquiry into the Street Trees Dispute was established by the city council following the signing of a co-operative agreement between Labour and Green Groups.