Bracknell councillors have been left in the dark about pressing issues in the area, as regular reports providing information on hot-button topics were quietly scrapped.
Elected representatives on Bracknell Forest Council used to receive reports of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests on a weekly basis.
Examples of publicly issued FOIs include the number of fines issued for school absences and what the council’s policy is on approving new hot food takeaways.
However, councillor John Harrison (Conservative, Binfield North & Warfield West) has revealed that members are no longer receiving these reports.
He therefore asked why these reports had been stopped in a question to Mary Temperton, the council leader, at a recent meeting.
Cllr Harrison said: “You have claimed to be aiming to run an open and transparent administration. Under the previous administration, all councillors received a regular summary FOI requests and responses, keeping us informed of issues of public concern that may be about to erupt into the public domain.
“Can you explain please why your administration has stopped this practice?
“Why have you reduced councillors’ insight into resident issues, and how can you claim openness when your transparency seems limited to mandatory consultations?”
Cllr Temperton (Labour, Great Hollands) replied by saying that a policy change meant that only Labour cabinet members have received these reports in the last two years.
She said: “I was never consulted on this. Indeed, as I have always received them I assumed everyone else did too.
“It was only on receipt of this question that I found out that only Cabinet members have been receiving them since 2023.
“I can only apologise to the council and thank Cllr Harrison for pointing this out.
“In the past two years, however, some members may not have known of their availability. I intend to correct this immediately and all councillors will imminently receive them on a weekly basis on the council’s internal intranet pages.”
Cllr Harrison thanked her for the response. In a follow-up, he said: “It’s very important for us as members, and it can be an early warning system for problems that are going on.
“It’s a shame I had to ask it, because this is something that shouldn’t have been changed.
“The response states you weren’t even consulted about this very significant change, what on earth can we do about that?”
Cllr Temperton admitted that it was a “horror story” when she found out other councillors were not receiving the updates.
She added that officers are in the process of developing a publication scheme where all FOI responses will be made available in public on the council’s website.
The exchange took place at the full council meeting on Wednesday, July 9.
