Havering Council has decided to appeal the order to publish the historic self-assessment peer review submitted as part of the Local Government Association’s READI review.
Havering Council has decided to appeal the recent decision by the First Tier Tribunal, which ordered the Council to publish the historic self-assessment peer review submitted as part of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Race Equality, Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion (READI) Review.
Background
Back in 2020, Havering Council asked for the personal experiences of staff on a strictly confidential basis to help identify the equality, diversity, and inclusion challenges that needed to be addressed on the journey to becoming an anti-discrimination organisation and improving the Council for everyone.
The shared understanding was that the self-assessment and the views contained within it were for the review team at the LGA only. The LGA asked for it, and the Council provided it to them.
After the Review was published, under the Freedom of Information Act, the Council received a request from the Romford Recorder to share the self-assessment, which was declined under the Act’s clear criteria for exempting the disclosure of information.
The Romford Recorder appealed to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which agreed with the Council and stated that there was a real risk that disclosure would affect the openness of future peer reviews and self-assessments conducted by councils, and may act as an obstacle to councils to engage voluntarily in similar processes.
Subsequently, the media appealed again and took the Information Commissioner’s Office – not the Council - to a tribunal to challenge their decision.
The tribunal has recently ruled that the public interest in disclosing elements of the self-assessment outweighs the exemption.
The appeal
The Council believes that the Tribunal's decision does not fully consider the implications of publishing the report.
The grounds of the appeal include:
- The failure of the Tribunal to adequately take into account the Information Commissioner’s views on the reduced public interest in disclosing the withheld information which in the Council’s view, was more significant.
- The Tribunal's decision failed to recognise that making such reports public could discourage open and honest participation in similar voluntary processes in the future. This could ultimately hinder the effectiveness of these reviews and the improvements they aim to achieve.
Havering Council remains committed to transparency and accountability.
However, the Council believes that the publication of the self-assessment peer review in this instance is not in the best interest of Council staff, the public or the authority’s ongoing efforts to improve race equality, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion within the organisation and across the wider borough.
Andrew Blake-Herbert, Havering Council Chief Executive, said:
"This report is now historic and holds no relevance or resemblance to the diverse and cohesive organisation the Council is today.
“Since the review, we have implemented mandatory EDI training, and our work with managers, trade unions, and active and supported staff forums is helping us build a modern, inclusive workforce in an anti-discrimination organisation.
“We must balance disclosure with protecting our staff and sticking to the principle that publishing a historic document, which holds no bearing to the Council or borough today, risks undermining staff trust in future peer review exercises – not just in Havering but across the country.
"It also risks fracturing community cohesion in the borough at a time when the national temperature is heightened."