A question the Council refuses to answer...

The Council refuses to answer how much taxpayers' money it has spent on lamp post banners

Late October a Rochdale Online reader sent photos of new banners that had appeared on lamp posts around Rochdale and asked if we could find out "how much money is yet again being wasted on pointless propaganda at a time of drastic cuts to council services and staff".

Rochdale Online sent a Freedom of Information request to the Council asking how much the Council had spent.

The reply from the Council was:

I can confirm that the Rochdale Borough Council holds the information that you have asked for, but in this case we will not be providing it to you as it is exempt from disclosure.

Under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act we are not obliged to provide information that is intended for future publication.

This information will be published in our lists of council spending above £500.

Rochdale Online asked the Council what date it will be published and the name of the company to whom the money will be paid (in order to search the Council list).

The reply from our "open and transparent" council was:

Community Lighting Partnership were the company used, the information will be published in the Council’s spend over £500 for March 2017, available to view in April 2017.

A question asked in October 2016 about a decision to spend taxpayers' money in a way many will consider pointless and unnecessary won't be answered until April 2017.

Rochdale Online appealed on the following grounds:

The refusal to release the information requested citing section 22 is unreasonable given publication and the opportunity to view is so many months hence and against the public interest.

Section 22 is a qualified exemption and there is a very strong public interest in knowing NOW how much public money has been spent on these banners at a time the council is seeking to make cuts in public services, and indeed a consultation is under way that closes on 9 January:

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/106610/council-savings-programme-have-your-say

Moreover, as the council purports to be open and transparent there can be no reasonable objection to the public knowing the answer now.

An internal review by our "open and transparent" council upheld the refusal to answer the question.

Rochdale Online will now appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office on the grounds that the Council should not be allowed to refuse to answer when it has no intention of publishing the answer to a question within a reasonable time frame.