Glyn Gaskarth says there should be fewer legal obligations for councils – but we should know what they are and any new ones should be costed and funded. By definition councils are legally obliged to fulfil their statutory duties. However, few know the number of statutory duties they are required to fulfil. New ones are […]
Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance, congratulates Northamptonshire County Council on following Windsor and Maidenhead's example and opening the books. If you’re still reading this column after almost a year and a half, you must either like – or be impervious to – my repeated and enthusiastic comments about local government transparency. That’s fortunate, because […]
On Monday there was a piece in this section by Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance about all the Freedom of Information requests that Councils have to cope with these days. Conservative controlled Norfolk County Council has complained about the number of them. A typical council does get hundreds of FIA requests a year and […]
Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance finds a mixed picture in Town Halls when it comes to embracing Freedom of Information. Amid the grim grind of recession, abolition of individual freedom, invasion of privacy and erosion of democracy, there has been one bit of good political news over the last few years: Freedom of Information. […]