Conservative Deputy Leader Councillor Graham Morris is set to argue for much more transparency and better record keeping of key decision-makers in Bristol City Council.
The move has been prompted by certain Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made in relation to electronic communications between the former directly elected Mayor Marvin Rees, and various outside bodies, businesses, and individuals.
In response, it emerged that under the Authority’s current information retention and data management policies and practices, emails are automatically deleted after 30 days. The justification for this action being that this form of information exchange is not a recognised storage system.
Now, Conservative Councillors have submitted a ‘golden motion’ on the issue, which means that it will be debated at the next Full Council, to be held on Tuesday, 10th December.
Cllr Morris (Stockwood) said: “I was very surprised and disappointed to discover that emails of key officials and decision-makers within Bristol City Council are not stored in such a way as to allow easy retrieval or accessibility.
“The law and regulatory authorities already provide certain safeguards against disclosure for different types or category of information.
“For example, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has an extensive list of exemptions for things involving confidential personal content and matters around commercial sensitivity.
“No doubt our existing data handling policy fully complies with all of the existing legal rules, requirements, and obligations. However, these days, emails almost certainly constitute a primary means of everyday contact.
Consequently, I think the Authority should be doing more to allow retrieval and access to this important medium for FOIs and Subject Access Requests (SARs). Reform would also allow better standardisation of its document storage archive.
“This latest incident – with its rather artificial limitations and rather obfuscator outcome – actually provides us with an opportunity to update local practices and become an exemplar of transparency and accountability as a public body.
“I hope our proposals command majority support when they come to be debated at the next Full Council.”
CONTACT GRAHAM MORRIS: mobile: 07469 413315
