A trainee newspaper reporter successfully challenged a local authority’s decision to reject a Freedom of Information request about public spending cuts.

Daniel Sanderson, a trainee reporter at the Scarborough Evening News, had asked to see reports produced for Scarborough Council by efficiency consultants which identified ways in which it could make savings in its budget.

But a request and a subsequent appeal, in which the paper suggested taking names and job titles out of the report, were refused by the council on the basis that making the reports public would make staff less likely to offer free and frank advice on the issue of cuts.

Refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer Daniel complained about the council’s handling of the request to the Information Commissioner who has now ruled in his favour.

Said Daniel: “We were always confident that the Commissioner would rule in our favour given the obvious public interest in releasing these documents and we’re delighted with the decision.

“The way in which the council implements cuts will have direct implications for people across the borough of Scarborough and I hope that the publication of these reports will allow them to make a more informed and constructive contribution to the debate.

“I’m looking forward to reading the reports and bringing this important information into the public domain.”

The commissioner responded by saying that the public interest in the disclosure of one of the reports outweighed the public interest in keeping it private and the council has been ordered to hand over the previously classified documents.

In its ruling the commissioner stated that the public authority did not deal with the request in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

The ruling read: “The Commissioner found that one of the reports was exempt but that, apart from a small amount of information, the public interest in maintaining the exemption did not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. The second report was not exempt.

“The Commissioner accepts that disclosure of the rest of the report would be likely to make staff more careful about how they phrase their comments in the future.

“However, he does not accept that it would inhibit them to the extent that they would fail to contribute constructively to such an important debate. In his view there is a considerable incentive for staff to take part in discussions which could potentially affect their jobs.

“He considers disclosure of a redacted version of the report to be a proportionate response in the circumstances of the case.”

Scarborough Council was also found to be in procedural breach of the Freedom of Information Act as it did not answer the request, first made on September 20 last year, within 20 working days.

The council has been warned that it could be held in contempt of court if it does not comply with the ruling to release the papers.

Evening News editor Ed Asquith said: “This was a classic example of a reporter thinking more deeply about the newspaper’s role as a public information provider and creating a story that no other source could. It’s essentially a good, old-fashioned approach in the best possible sense.”