Council loses appeal over data request backlog

Bristol City Council has been criticised for its overdue Freedom of Information requests

A council has lost its legal battle against the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after failing to clear a Freedom of Information request backlog.

Bristol City Council was last year handed an enforcement notice by the data watchdog over 158 overdue FOI requests. The council had said it would clear them in 39 months but they are supposed to be answered within 20 days.

The council did not dispute the watchdog's complaints but appealed the notice. Judge Kiai dismissed the appeal at the First-tier Tribunal on Wednesday, saying the ICO had "exercised its discretion correctly".

A spokesperson for the council said it would "continue to work towards addressing" the backlog.

According to the ICO, which upholds rights to information in the public interest, it has received more complaints about Bristol City Council (BCC) than any other council.

The watchdog said it had received more than 60 complaints about the authority since April 2023, many of which related to unanswered FOI requests.

Before issuing the enforcement notice, the ICO had urged the council to create an action and recovery plan to ensure that 90% of requests were answered by the end of 2023.

The council failed to achieve this.

'Stop hiding'

Issuing its enforcement notice in March 2024, the ICO said there had been "no improvement" in efforts to clear the backlog and that 39 months was "unreasonable".

Councillor Nicholas Coombes, vice-chairman of the Audit Committee, said: "We are appalled at the build-up of unanswered FOI requests under the last administration, and that BCC chose to appeal the regulator's enforcement notice rather than take their advice.

"BCC needs to stop hiding behind legal tricks and improve the FOI service, as recommended by the Information Commissioner.

"Political leaders need to continue our transformation of the council to welcome public scrutiny and involvement, so that fewer people resort to Freedom of Information requests.

"A genuinely open council makes better decisions and wastes less money on legal fees."

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: "An appeal of the enforcement notice was instigated based on legal advice and done so in line with the council's constitution. We have and continue to work with the Information Commissioner's Office to improve performance and will carry on with these efforts to deliver best practice in our processes."