Whanganui District Council apologises for official information delay

The Ombudsman has upheld two complaints against Whanganui District Council about official information requests. Photo / NZME

The Ombudsman investigated six complaints about the way Whanganui District Council responded to requests for official information in the first six months of the year.

The complaints related to delays in making a decision on a request, incomplete or inadequate response, part refusal of information and outright refusal.

Of the six complaints, two were upheld.

The complaints were lodged under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA), which allows people to request official information held by local government agencies including councils.

Chief executive David Langford said the Ombudsman upheld a complaint that the council failed to respond within the required timeframe.

The request for information had been “missed” because it was included in one of 1600 submissions to the long term plan, and was not read by officers until it was too late to respond in time, Langford said.

“The Ombudsman had no sympathy for that and said the failure was failing to meet the timeframes.”

The council issued a formal apology for the lapse.

The Ombudsman also upheld a complaint that the council did not consult with the requestor before it declined the request.

Langford said the request was declined because the council had already supplied the information asked for. However, it was “a technical procedural failure” and the Ombudsman directed the council to review its procedure.

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Langford said he hoped the Ombudsman’s findings reflected the council’s efforts to bring greater transparency to council business.

“Hopefully this can give the community some confidence and trust that when they ask for information it’s given freely and that we try to be as open and transparent as possible.”

The Ombudsman publishes data on LGOIMA complaints every six months.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.