Four years for council to answer 'simple question'

Kevin Robinson-Hale said the delay amounted to a "lack of accountability"

A man who waited four years to get an answer to a Freedom of Information request from his local council described the delay as a "lack of accountability".

Kevin Robinson-Hale asked what he said was a "simple" set of questions about funding repairs to his local library in Liverpool back in 2021, and had not received an answer, despite reminding the council it had failed to respond in the legally required 20-day period.

Last month, Liverpool City Council was told by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) it could be found to be in contempt of court if it did not deal with a backlog of requests.

The council's information boss said the situation "should not be allowed to develop again".

Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act public bodies must provide information to anyone who makes a request within 20 working days - unless certain exemptions apply.

Mr Robinson-Hale said he had submitted questions about the funding of repairs at Everton library, where he had learned to read as a child.

Ed Gommon said transparency was "not an optional extra" in a democracy

He said: "I chased it for about 18 months - going to the council asking for an internal review and then they never got back to me."

Mr Robinson-Hale said social media had reminded him of the four-year anniversary of the request, and he had put a tongue-in-cheek post on X celebrating the milestone with a birthday card.

"I think it's a lack of scrutiny and lack of accountability, because it's questions sometimes that they don't seem to want to answer," he said.

He said he was happy that the council had been told to improve or end up in court.

"I think it's long overdue," he added.

'Massive value'

Mr Robinson-Hale said he believed the value of citizens being able to make FOI requests was "massive".

Another Liverpool resident, Ed Gommon, said he had been frustrated when trying to ask questions about property deals in Toxteth and Dingle.

He said in one instance it took a year to receive the information he had asked for.

"Transparency is not an optional extra in democracy," he said.

Liverpool City Council receives around 1,500 FOI requests a year.

The council's director of law and governance and monitoring officer, Iolanda Puzio, said the authority had already taken a number of steps over the past two years to address some of the criticisms outlined by the ICO.

These included investing more than a quarter of a million pounds to increase resources.

However, Ms Puzio admitted this had not been enough.