In April 2024 Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) announced that Heads of Terms (HoT) for the stadium proposal on the Triangle had been agreed with Oxford United. The HoT is a document that sets out the broad terms of a commercial agreement before a formal contract is signed. This decision was taken behind closed doors and the HoT were never disclosed to the public or put before any OCC committee. FoSB therefore contacted OCC with a request for the following information:
- a copy of the HoT agreed with Oxford United
- a copy of the draft lease agreement or if the council is unable to provide these, other information such as:
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- which parties are named in the HoT
- the value of any lease agreement
- the duration of the lease agreement
- details of any restrictive covenants
We also asked for valuation details of the Triangle i.e. the value of the land, the names of the agents who valued it, and copies of their reports.
OCC used exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act to refuse to provide this information to us. Our solicitor wrote to OCC explaining that our request was for environmental information so should have been considered under different rules and asked them to reconsider. OCC refused, failing to meet statutory deadlines for a statutory review. We were left with no option other than to write to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The ICO agreed with our solicitor and told OCC that it should review its decision. However, despite input from both Calum Miller MP and Layla Moran MP, OCC is still refusing to disclose nearly all of the information that we requested. We believe that OCC's justification for continuing to withhold this information is flawed, particularly in its application of the Public Interest Test. We are therefore seeking an internal review from OCC.
We continue to be appalled at the conduct of senior council officers including the CEO, Martin Reeves: he is presiding over a culture of secrecy which goes directly against OCC's constitution which includes:
- a presumption in favour of openness
- a members code of conduct which states:
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- they are accountable to the public and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this, and
- they should take decisions in an open and transparent manner
Why aren't our County Councillors submitting themselves to appropriate scrutiny?
What has OCC got to hide?