Revealed: Leeds Council is spending your cash on fighting a ruling to reveal the identities of councillors who failed to pay their council tax
LEEDS Council is refusing to reveal which councillors have been sent a court summons over unpaid council tax and is using public money in a legal bid to keep their identity secret.
The council has said it won’t comply with a ruling from the Information Commissioner that the names of four Leeds councillors should be disclosed after the authority refused an initial freedom of information (FOI) request.
Instead, the council is challenging the Commissioner’s decision at a tribunal having paid £1,200 for external legal advice as well as using significant staff time fighting the case. A further estimated £3,500 has been earmarked to pay for the tribunal’s legal costs.
Campaign group the TaxPayers’ Alliance called the council’s move “preposterous” and said it was “showing a contempt towards public scrutiny and accountability.”