Top Council Pay and Consultancy Fees - Subjects for Freedom of Information Requests

THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) ACT gives you the right to ask any public body for all the information they have on any subject you choose. Unless there’s a good reason, the organisation must provide the information within 20 working days or provide you with an explanation of why this is not being done. The times when councils and governments conducted everything behind closed doors should be at an end! The FOI is a useful tool for ensuring public bodies are - and remain - accountable for their actions.

ANYONE CAN MAKE A REQUEST. FOI is not restricted to journalists or campaigning charities – there are no restrictions on the age or nationality of those requesting information. Applicants do not have to indicate why they want the information.

The website WhatDoTheyKnow is a very public way to make Freedom of Information requests. The request is made in public on the website, and the responses and other correspondence can be tracked and shared easily.

A look at recent requests on WhatDoTheyKnow brings to light some very revealing and useful information:

TOP COUNCIL PAY: After recent controversies about top council officers receiving high salaries while the rest of us suffer austerity cuts then most people will be surprised to discover (FOI request March 2010) that Nigel Pearson, the East Riding Council's Chief Executive is paid an annual salary of £170,067 for providing "clear strategic vision and inspirational leadership" for the authority.

HULL COUNCIL CONSULTANCY FEES: A request for information on payments made to a consultant working for Hull City Council (FOI request January 2011) revealed that between 4 January 2010 and 31 December 2010 one consultancy firm was paid £231,818.39 in total - a daily rate, including fees, of £900. 

Further information provided revealed that up to £1.6m had been spent by Hull City Council on 'Professional/Consultants Fees' in November 2010. Interestingly, the information on expenditure over £500 provided by the Council for December 2010 no longer included the sub-description 'Professional/Consultants Fees'.   The amount spent on such service areas will undoubtedly be of interest to those who are protesting that authority's £50m cuts programme!

Further information on using Freedom of Information requests effectively can be found on the personal blog of journalist and head of multimedia for Trinity Mirror Regionals, David Higgerson.