Agenda item

Freedom of Information

It was moved by Councillor Martin Smith, seconded by Councillor Cliff Woodcraft, that this Council

(a)       believes that the Freedom of Information Act is an essential part of our democracy and enables citizens to hold local and national government to account;

(b)       agrees that Freedom of Information laws should be extended to cover private companies delivering public services and major contracts;

(c)        believes that the Freedom of Information Act is under threat from the Government, with proposals to:-

(i)         introduce charges for requests;

(ii)        make it easier to refuse requests on cost grounds; and

(iii)       strengthen Ministers’ powers to veto disclosures;

(d)       notes that Sheffield City Council issued refusals, either wholly or partially, on 22% of FOI requests in 2014/15, compared to 11% by Bristol City Council and 18% by both Leeds City Council and Manchester City Council;

(e)       notes Sheffield City Council’s refusal to answer its own Opposition Councillors’ Freedom of Information requests and reveal the 117 sites either wholly or partially in the Green Belt that were submitted as part of the Call for Housing Sites;

(f)        notes that unlike other Councils, such as Leeds, Sheffield City Council does not publish FOI data on a regular basis including the number of requests received and refused;

(g)       regrets that Sheffield City Council has been refusing to answer tree-related FOI requests, many from people who have never previously made a request under the Freedom of Information Act, instead branding the topic as ‘vexatious’; and

(h)       therefore calls on the Council to:-

(i)         publish data on FOI requests on a monthly basis;

(ii)        answer tree-related FOI requests; and

(iii)       write to the six Sheffield MPs requesting that they resist any attempt by the Government to water-down the provisions within the Freedom of Information Act.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Ben Curran, seconded by Councillor Leigh Bramall, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraphs (d) to (h) and the addition of new paragraphs (d) to (h) as follows:-

(d)       notes that:-

(i)         the Council deals with each Freedom of Information request on a case by case basis and in line with the Freedom of Information Act; and

(ii)        for the 2014/15 financial year, less than 1% of refusals were referred to the Information Commissioner;

(e)       notes that the information relating to the main opposition group’s Freedom of Information requests on housing sites was not completed at the time the request was received, and that this information will be made available on 11th November, 2015 when the public consultation on Phase 1 of the Sheffield Local Plan is published;

(f)        welcomes the Council’s intention to publish FOI data on a regular basis;

(g)       notes that the Council has answered tree-related FOI requests, and is committed to continuing to work hard to respond to as many requests as is feasible, given the resources available; and

(h)       will write to the six Sheffield MPs requesting that they resist any attempt by the Government to water-down the provisions within the Freedom of Information Act.

(Note: With the consent of Council and at the request of Councillor Ben Curran (the mover of the amendment), paragraph (e) above as published in the “List of Amendments Received by the Chief Executive” circulated at the meeting, was altered, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.9, by the substitution of the word “completed” for the word “available”.)

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-