Not so free with the information?

Many people - residents of Denton South who have read my leaflets, readers of this blog or those who have read my letters in the local press - will, by now, be only too aware of my often stated view that the present system of electing only one third of the local councillors in every election is undemocratic. 

When a council has one completely dominant political party - and here in Tameside we currently have 51 Labour to 6 Conservative councillors - it is impossible for the people (even if every single person in Tameside were to vote) to change the party in power in one election when only 19 seats are contested.

It is also difficult to hold any individual councillors to account under such a system. When Tameside councillors voted to close down libraries across the borough - one month after the 2012 Local Elections - one third of those councillors knew it would be two years before they would have to account to the voters for their decision. Another third would have three years and those councillors elected only the month before the decision was made would have four whole years before facing any possible consequences at the ballot box.

That is certainly enough time for many angry people to calm down, forget and to accept unpopular decisions - and we shall see this repeated again, one month after the May 2014 Local Elections - when the council votes to close down Children's Centres across Tameside in June.

However - just as important as the lack of democracy and accountability - there is also the financial burden of holding three separate yearly elections for only one third of the councillors at any one time, especially during these times of massive cuts to public services.

Since all elected councillors serve a four-year term of office, surely it makes financial sense to elect them all at the same time?

To gather evidence to support this case, I wrote to Tameside Council on 15 January 2014 asking them to provide - under the Freedom of Information Act - the following information: 

Please could you tell me the whole financial cost of the local elections across the 19 wards of the borough of Tameside in 2012. I should like to have a breakdown regarding the cost of printed ballot papers for every voter, the printing and distribution of polling cards, the cost of policing on election night, the cost of staff for the polling stations across the borough and the staff who are involved in counting the votes, the cost of refreshments for all involved on election night, plus any other expenses that were incurred both with the organising and running of the local elections in Tameside?  

The council should have responded to my request within 20 days, but I had to wait until 14 March for an answer - which was disappointing to say the least.

I was informed that Tameside Council did not hold this information and that, under election law, the conduct of local elections is the responsibility of the Returning Officer who is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore under no obligation to provide the information I requested.

Well, that says a lot for the freedom of information!

Carl Simmons

Denton South Independent

Thursday 20th March 2014

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