Dumfries and Galloway Council waste contract cost request refused

The council ended its PFI waste contract earlier this year

A council has declined to release details of why it cost it £6.5m to end a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) waste contract.

A report revealed the financial impact of the termination on Dumfries and Galloway Council last month.

A BBC Freedom of Information (FOI) request asked why the costs had been incurred when it was the private company that sought to end the deal.

The council said the "public interest" lay in not releasing the information.

In November, a best value assurance study of the local authority prepared for the Accounts Commission highlighted the effect of ending the PFI deal.

The BBC FOI request asked for details of why the council faced such costs.

It also asked if the local authority expected to face similar losses in future to those incurred by the private company which had been running the service.

'Enhance scrutiny'

The council response said it did hold the information requested but had withheld it as its release could "prejudice substantially" the "effective conduct of public affairs".

It cited section 30 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act which is subject to the public interest test.

That means it has to decide whether disclosure would "enhance the scrutiny of the council decision-making and thereby improve accountability and participation".

However, it concluded that the public interest in its release did not outweigh that in withholding it.

The BBC has asked the council to review that decision.