Councillor asks Worcestershire County Council ‘What are you hiding?’ after they refuse to release partially leaked documents to councillors

Pershore County Councillor Dan Boatright-Greene is demanding that all reports produced as part of the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) plans for Worcestershire are released to councillors after a leak to the BBC last week showed that residents could face tax hikes of up to £400 a year.

Worcestershire is one of many counties currently undergoing a transition from a two-tier system, with district and county councils, to a One Unitary authority. Exactly how this will look is being explored by the councils, with two options currently on the table: one council covering the whole county and a two-unitary authority, with a North-South split.

The County Council is currently pursuing a single unitary authority for the whole of Worcestershire, but the leaked report showed that it could be more expensive than a North-South two-unitary option. Five district councils are preparing to submit a two-unitary option to the government as a counterproposal.

Worcestershire County Council said the leaked report was not intended for public consumption and expressed its disappointment that the slides were leaked.

Cllr Dan Boatright-Greene says: “I am absolutely horrified by the tactics being used by the council. Without this leaked report, we would not have known that initial assessments show a whole county approach will cost residents in Pershore significantly more. It is very clear that they had no intention of providing all the data, just what suited their agenda and their narrative.

“Why are council officers going onto the radio, suggesting the public can see the numbers but then refusing to release them? Why are they going on the radio, saying they are giving councillors all the information required to make a decision when we clearly are not? And why are they using Freedom of Information procedures to slow down handing over the document that the recent leaks have come from? What do they have to hide? And where is the administration in all this? The Reform administration seems to have forgotten that it is councillors who are elected and make decisions, not the officers. 

“The council has repeatedly been unable to answer my questions about why they argue that a one unitary authority is better and more cost-effective than a two unitary authority option. And the more evidence I see, the clearer it is that the people of Pershore and Wychavon are going to be hit hard if some of these council tax predictions come to pass. We need all the information, not just the selected sections that suit the narrative of those at the top of the council.”

“I am calling on the leadership of the council to stop hiding behind Freedom of Information requests and release all the reports so far produced to councillors so we can scrutinise them properly. Otherwise, how can we trust them?”