Powys council leader wants people to ask him questions rather than send Freedom Of Information requests

Powys council leader Jake Berriman wants people to ask him questions directly rather than send him Freedom of Information requests.

The plea was made at a Powys County Council Cabinet meeting as the Liberal Democrat/Labour senior councillor received the annual report on information governance for 2025/2026.

The report reveals the number of requests for information made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000, Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, or the UK General Data Protection Regulation Subject Access Request (SAR) regime.

In total, there were 1,348 requests for information made to the council last year, which is a 4.5 per cent increase on the 1,289 made in 2024/2025.

Council leader Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod Wells) said: “I have a point to make.

“I note how many requests we have for specific access requests, Freedom of Information.

“These things seem to be a one-way street, they are increasing all the time, and they are often quite complex and involve lots of officers putting information together.

“Personally, I have been subject to two FOIs and duly replied in accordance with the requirements.

“But what I would say is that the bit of paper to produce a response has been handled multiple times before it reached me.

“I do have, tomorrow in fact, a time to talk session where I am available to all members of the public to ask me questions and have a conversation on any topic they wish to.

“It might be easier to ask the question that you have directly to me.”

After being appointed council leader last year, Cllr Berriman started the ‘Time to Talk’ sessions, which take place online monthly and give up to a dozen residents the ability to quiz Cllr Berriman for eight minutes each.

Earlier in the meeting, Cllr Raiiff Devlin (Liberal Democrat – Talybont-on-Usk) said: “The senior information risk owner provided an overall opinion of reasonable assurance, meaning that our arrangements are broadly effective and information-related risks are being managed appropriately.

“The report is clear where improvement is still required. The most significant challenge remains Subject Access Requests (SARs), where demand continues to grow and there is a backlog of older requests. Reducing the backlog and improving performance in that area is a key priority for the coming year.”

Cabinet noted the report.

Overall, the report shows mixed performance against a target of 90 per cent of requests being answered within the legal deadlines.

Only 77 per cent of FOI requests were completed within the legal 20-day deadline, which is less than the 79 per cent in 2024/2025.

Seventy-eight per cent of EIR requests were answered on time, compared with 79 per cent last year.

Meanwhile, 50 per cent of SARs were answered on time, up from 49 per cent last year.

The comments by Cllr Berriman mirror a similar plea made by former Conservative council cabinet member James Evans several years ago.

Mr Evans has gone on to become a Conservative Senedd Member and is now one of three Reform UK MSs for the Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency.

At a Cabinet meeting in the summer of 2019, Mr Evans urged residents to “save time and money” by speaking to Cabinet members or staff directly rather than making costly FOI requests.

In 2018/19, the council had received 1,420 information requests.