A second council has blocked a regional news website’s bid to make public a series of reports on how Brexit will affect its patch.

Last month HTFP reported how Birmingham Live local democracy reporter Carl Jackson had accused Birmingham City Council of “shooting itself in the foot” after it blocked his bid to publish a secret report on the impact of Brexit in the city.

Now sister site Kent Live has tried to obtain a set of reports on how Britain’s EU departure will affect its own patch – again without success.

The news site has submitted a series of Freedom of Information requests to Kent County Council asking for reports on how areas including transport, trade, funding, community cohesion and migration will be affected by the UK’s decision to leave the bloc.

According to a story on Kent Live, the council argued making the reports public was “likely to impact on the free and frank provision of advice” which is “extremely likely to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs,” adding it would “negatively impact” the county’s residents.

The council admitted there was a “substantial public interest” in releasing the information, adding it could have a “potential positive impact”, but it decided on balance that the “concern of affecting the council’s decision-making process” outweighed this.

HTFP understands Kent Live is considering its options with regards to how it approaches the council’s response.

Councillor Rob Bird, above, the leader of the Kent County Council’s opposition Liberal Democrat group, has already called for the reports to be released in the wake of Kent Live’s requests.

He said: “I see no good reason for this information to be withheld from the public, the media or from the councillors.”

“I think there is perhaps a culture within Kent County Council where certain factions within the council do not support open and transparent practices and debate which I think is very regrettable in the twenty-first century.”

A council spokesman responded: “KCC refutes any suggestion that it is being secretive. The Brexit-related activity is recognised in our published business plans.

“We have responded to calls for evidence from several parliamentary Select Committees on Brexit-related matters. These submissions are publicly available and can be found [on the Parliamentary website].

“In addition, Brexit-related issues have been substantive elements in cabinet committee updates [available on the council website].”

Kent Live has declined to comment further at this stage.