Shropshire Council has been issued with an enforcement notice for its ‘poor handling’ of freedom of information requests.
Following enquiries made by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the council admitted it had 143 unanswered requests towards the end of April despite plans to clear the backlog by the end of March.
The oldest unanswered request dated back to April 2021, with remaining requests dating from January 2022 and every subsequent month.
The enforcement notice requires the council to respond to all outstanding requests over 20 working days old, no later than six months from the date of the notice.
Phillip Angell, head of FOI Casework at the ICO, said: ‘People have a legal right to be able to ask their council about its actions and receive an answer promptly. In its poor handling of FOI requests Shropshire Council has been failing to be transparent and accountable. We’ve demanded it does better.’
