Investigation reveals the civic centre is sitting on 271 overdue requests submitted by the public under the Freedom of Information Act, reports James Cracknell

Enfield Civic Centre and (inset) the ICO

Enfield Council has been issued with an enforcement notice by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after it was slammed for delays in responding to public requests.

Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act local authorities are required to respond within 20 working days – around one month – to requests for information from the public. But recent investigations by the ICO revealed there were hundreds of outstanding FOI requests which had exceeded this deadline – in some cases by several months.

The most recent figure, according to the ICO, is that there are 271 open FOI requests of at least one month old, with “potentially further requests yet to be logged” by the civic centre.

In the enforcement notice issued to the council last week Phillip Angell, the ICO’s head of FOI and transparency, wrote: “The commissioner considers it a proportionate regulatory step to issue this notice.

“This is because although the council has an action plan in place and is taking steps to address its backlog of requests, the commissioner is concerned with the lack of progress in ensuring that an acceptable level of performance is reached.”

The enforcement notice requires the council to ensure it has logged all requests it has received within three months, by 7^th January, and “answered all overdue FOI requests at the date of this notice within six months [by 7^th April]”.

Angell also warns that “the consequence of failing to comply with an enforcement notice is that the commissioner may make written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to Section 54 of [the] FOIA. Upon consideration and inquiry by the High Court, the council may be dealt with as if it had committed a contempt of court.”

A council spokesperson said: “We take the enforcement notice seriously and are committed to meeting the requirements set out by the ICO.

“The council has already been taking steps to address these issues, steps which have been acknowledged by the ICO.

“We remain fully committed to providing timely responses to all information requests. We will continue to build on this work, further improving our services and restoring confidence in our FOI processes.”

Among those who have struggled to obtain information from the council under FOI laws is Matt Burn, a local housing and environmental campaigner, who has been forced to alert the ICO to legal breaches by the council in recent years and, in one case, successfully appealed against a refusal.

Matt said: “The Freedom of Information Act is vital to democracy, enabling residents and journalists to hold those in power to account.

“Enfield Council’s persistent delays in responding to FOI requests are unacceptable and deny people their legal right to information.

“For example, it took 18 months and repeated intervention from the ICO to obtain a report that should have been released within 20 days. In another case, information about Meridian Water requested in May 2023 is only now being provided following a tribunal.

“The ICO’s enforcement notice underlines the seriousness of the situation – the council must act swiftly. It is not above the law.”

The 271 overdue FOI requests include one from the Dispatch relating to the future of closed library buildings, submitted over four months ago, and another requesting internal emails about the conduct of ex-mayor Mohammad Islam, submitted over two months ago.

The Dispatch also made a request nearly three months ago for a review of a decision to block information on the council’s termination of its previous leisure centres management contract, but this has also not been completed within the required time limit and remains outstanding.

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