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MHCLG slammed by watchdog for ‘knee-jerk’ refusal to release information
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has been criticised by the information watchdog over its “knee-jerk” refusal to provide information relating to building regulations and fire safety.
Inside Housing submitted an information request to the MHCLG seeking submissions to a consultation on changes to Approved Document B – the official guidance on fire safety – in August last year.
The request was initially refused by MHCLG officials in October, who claimed that it should not be released as it related to the “formulation and development of government policy”.
However, after an appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) 14 of the 54 responses were released, revealing ministers ignored warnings about the fire safety of high rises and calls for sprinklers in the consultation – the last to be carried out before the Grenfell Tower disaster.
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In a judgement released last week (below), the ICO criticised the original decision not to release the information before it had even searched its own records to see if it held the information requested.
“It appears to the commissioner that the department applied an exemption to material which had not been searched for, or properly examined, prior to issuing a refusal of the request, and even before it carried out its internal review,” it said.
“The commissioner must impress on MHCLG the need for it to give proper consideration to the information it actually holds, before making any determination that it should be withheld.
“It is not acceptable for any public authority to make such an apparent ‘knee-jerk’ response to a request without proper consideration.”
The ICO accepted MHCLG’s claim that the remaining 40 responses to the consultation had been “deleted”.
Inside Housing is currently seeking responses to a 2005 consultation on Approved Document B under the Freedom of Information Act.
Changes instituted after that consultation quietly lifted a ban which had been in place on combustible plastic insulation on high rises, replacing it with a system of testing which opened the door to ‘assessments in lieu of tests’, or desktop studies.
Inside Housing has requested several specific submissions under that consultation, including two from the British Plastics Federation and one from the British Rigid Urethane Foam Manufacturers’ Association, since renamed the Insulation Manufacturers Association, which represents insulation manufacturers.
The information should have been released on 22 June, but MHCLG has not yet provided it or given a date for its release.
