Holding councillors to account

Question

In a different post I noticed that one of the remedies suggested was to hold councillors to account.
What/how is the best way to do this?

Our council keeps all its emails and communication between councillors private. How can we hold them to account when we dont know what is happening? (I appreciate there are the minutes but this doesnt cover some of the backroom stuff that is going on)

Answer 1

The best way to hold councillors to account is to attend the meetings and ask questions in a formal setting.  If there is something specific you want to know about, send them a Freedom of Interest request but it is not realistic to expect ALL emails and communications to be in the public domain - how could this be achieved?

Comments

Thanks for the response.

Are councillors emails - ones concerning general business - confidential? So for instance is there an issue if a councillor sent emails on to a resident?

---

No they are not confidential and could be subject to an FOI request.  If a councillor sent an email to a resident that included confidential information about a 3rd party for example, they could be in trouble for breaching GDPR.  It depends on what was sent and why.

---

in this context what can a freedom of info request cover. For instance could I ask for all emails between councillors from a specific date? Or do I need to have a subject?

---

You need to be specific in your request for information, detailing exactly what you want as they are only obliged to send you the information that you specifically ask for.  However, they can also refuse.  The council should have an FOI policy and a publication scheme so have a look at that in the first instance.  If they don't have it online, ask for it.

---

Thanks MrsAbster. Appreciate your time and replies

---

I agree with MrsAbster as any request you make must be specific not general also the broader the request is the more wriggle room the PC have to claim replying will take too much time
Good luck as a Councillor I requested information in March 2020 sent a FOI request then referred it to the ICO and I’m
still waiting

---

My understanding is that at a Council meeting a member of the public is entitled to ask any questions about anything on the Agenda but he Chairman of the meeting is under no obligation to respond.  To me when asked "how you can hold any Councillor to account" then the answer is "you cant"  except to vote him/her out after 4 years.

---

The public can raise not  just items on the agenda but any matter they chose
In my experience these are ignored or are put on a later agenda and voted upon without telling the resident who raised it what’s happening

---

So given an email between councillors that does not contain information about staff or other data protection issues the councillor can pass the email on to any/all residents. Is that correct?

---

Thanks everyone for all the answers

---

Of course, I have a permanent note on my emails stating that as the email relates to my activities as a Councillor it is available for inspection under the Freedom of Information Act

---

Thanks Jules. And if the councillor just chooses to pass it on to a resident is that ok too? (ie no official FOI request involved)

---

Assuming it’s nots confidential I personally don’t have a problem doing that and I copy interested parties in when I send them