Sandwell Council sends 1 in 5 FOIs late

A total of 576 of responses have exceeded the statutory 20-day time-limit since 2015.

The figures were revealed after an FOI request by the Express & Star - which was also sent back late.

The figures also showed Sandwell Council did not respond to 185 requests, out of a total of 2,906 sent since 2015.

Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP James Morris called on Sandwell Council to be 'more transparent', adding: "Local residents deserve to know what’s going on, and they should find out in a timely fashion.

“It’s a shame that so many people feel that the only way they can get answers is by using an FOI request and then have to wait so long for a response."

The TaxPayers’ Alliance also questioned Sandwell Council’s transparency and called on local authorities to publish more data openly.

“These figures are hugely disappointing,” said John O’Connell, the group’s chief executive. “The Freedom of Information Act clearly states the legal time frame for a response, with limited exemptions. And that is especially true for local authorities.

"Councils should release much more information on their spending in the first place, so as to limit the number of FOIs that need to be submitted."

However Sandwell Council bosses defended its response times and says new systems are in place to speed up the FOI process.

Sandwell Council’s monitoring officer Surjit Tour said: “Almost 95 per cent of FOI enquiries have been responded to and of those that haven’t, the majority are because they are complex or involve the retrieval and consideration of a significant amount of documentation.

“In other instances, due to the passage of time, the council does not hold records to confirm whether the FOIs received had been responded to.

“Given that the council has not received many complaints/reviews concerning FOIs, it is likely that the FOIs were addressed in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

“The council takes its responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act very seriously and we are committed to dealing with requests as required under the act.

“The council has introduced new arrangements to track and monitor all FOIs received.

“Figures show that, overall, we are responding to the vast majority of these requests within the required timeframe and we’re continuing to prioritise and improve the way in which we deal with FOIs.”