Actual UK Local Authority quotes on the use of FOI / DP related “gagging clauses”

Both Cheshire West and Chester Council and Brent Borough Council have used a “gagging clause” within a compromise agreement to prevent former employees from getting at their information after leaving employment.  Cheshire West and Chester are fully prepared to do it again in the future, whilst Brent insist theirs was a “temporary measure”.

The Information Commissioner regards this conduct as “likely to be in breach of the Act”.

Regardless of the apparent stripping away of statutory rights, the Local Government Association is firmly on the fence on this issue, stating that it’s entirely a matter for individual councils.

The following information was volunteered into the public domain – and represents the more revealing opinions of some of Cheshire and Brent’s fellow LGA members:

“We do not have any of these. We do not see…