Freedom of Information comes at a price . . .

ACTIVIST Don Buxton got more information than he bargained for when he fired off a Freedom of Information Request to the council.

In addition to details he had requested about a “free” Rotherham Beacon Open Day hosted by Rotherham Partnership at the Town Hall, the council included the cost of processing his request...£258.

In a reply Don said: “Thank you for your comprehensive response to my request for information under FOI.

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 “I do not recall asking for the cost of compiling my FOI request and in future, unless specifically requested, I do not require you to inform me. Please inform me of your reason for the inclusion of such on this occasion.

“I trust that you bring similar concerns for costs to the public purse to the attention of elected members and officers in respect of the cost of their first-class rail travel and junkets and feasts that are of spurious benefit to Rotherham ratepayers?”

That promoted a response from former councillor Irene Furnell who fired off another FOI to the council saying: “Don Buxton may not want to know about the cost, but since you gave a cost of £258 to compile the response, I would like to have a breakdown of that cost please.”

The council duly sent Mrs Furnell a response, giving a breakdown of how the cost had been incurred in officers’ time.

And they included the cost of processing her own inquiry...£27.