One person accounts for a fifth of Freedom of Information requests to Wirral Council

Sep 12 2012 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

ALMOST a fifth of freedom of information requests to Wirral Council in the last year were made by one person, according to the authority.

The unnamed individual made 245 requests –19% of the total – in 12 months, dwarfing even the second most prolific requester, who made 22.

The figures were revealed in a report to this week’s ruling cabinet, which said Wirral receives a “disproportionately higher amount of enquiries” compared other councils of a similar size.

The report added: “FOI requests continue to rise, particularly when anything controversial appears in the local press; 340 requests were received in the first quarter of 2012/12.

‘‘Assuming this remains constant, the estimated total for the year is 1,360.”

It added that a plan is now in place to try to reduce the number of requests received and improve the overall service, including better publication of information.