South Tyneside Council refuses to reveal cost of major town hall clock tower repairs
South Tyneside Council has refused to disclose the cost of its major clock tower repairs.
Council chiefs in South Tyneside have sent alarm bells ringing by refusing to disclose the cost of major town hall clock tower repairs – despite a Freedom of Information request.
They have been criticised for failing to reveal the sums involved for work to South Shields’ near 120-year-old Grade II listed structure – and accused of misinterpreting the law.
In response to the FOI, they claimed the information was commercially sensitive and may impact future tendering applications – and stayed silent.
Requesting the cost of repairs
The financial details were requested by South Tyneside Political News & Views, a politics interest page which has 9,000 members on Facebook.
It submitted its FOI earlier this month after the costs involved became a talking point.
The group said it was “disappointed” to have been denied details of a scheme which began in June and has seen the tower enveloped in scaffolding – and have appealed.
It added: “The costs were something we were asked about by several group members, and it is clearly a concern to them as taxpayers.
“Because of their interest, we submitted the FOI on their behalf. We have emailed the council to say we would like it reviewed.
“The council has replied to acknowledge our request for an internal review and that the Head of Legal Services will do that.”
Refusing to reveal the cost
Publicly available information on the council’s website shows the project plans were drawn up last year under the previous Labour administration.
The current Reform-led authority has said the maintenance work was essential to safeguard the tower’s future.
In its FOI reply, the council confirmed it held the relevant information and admitted there was public interest in how it achieved best value for money.
But it refused the application under section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, around commercial interests.
It said: “However, one must also consider the significant impact that such a disclosure would have on our providers as well on the Council.
“Releasing the information may jeopardise the providers ability to tender competitively for future contracts, giving their competitors an advantage and therefore putting the provider at a disadvantage.
“From the Council's point of view, releasing this information may discourage other organisations to tender for contracts with the Council which may jeopardise our value for money initiatives and may create uncertainty with the existing private contracts we hold.
“It is for these reasons that we believe the information is exempt from release.”
‘Misinterpreting the FOI act’
The decision was also queried by campaigner Steve Lavelle, 68, who has successfully challenged FOI refusals relating to issues in South Tyneside.
Mr Lavelle said: “I would argue that the council’s FOI team is misinterpreting the FOI act.
“I would suggest the council has failed to demonstrate a causal link between disclosure and real or significant harm as required by section 43 as in their refusal they use the phrases ‘may jeopardise’, ‘may discourage’ and ‘may create uncertainty’ in their response.
“They have failed to demonstrate real or significant commercial prejudice and are reliant on hypothetical or speculative risks.”
A council spokesperson said: “The information relating to costs was withheld under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act which protects commercially sensitive information.
“Contracts relating to the project have been awarded under delegated powers.”