Local and central government using secrecy to circumvent planning laws
Campaigners Stop The Arc Group are demanding action, including resignations, after the Arc Leadership Group admitted they had colluded with central government for more than two years to conceal their excessive development plans from public scrutiny. This is the public confession of their collusion in this secrecy by councillor Bridget Smith, the Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, on 21 Feb 2023:
“I absolutely agree with you over the frustration on the lack of transparency [on the Arc] over the last five years, and your views have been reiterated at numerous meetings by myself and leaders of all other political persuasions, time and time again. The block was government, government did not approve meetings being in public; agendas and minutes being published, or the creation of a website. So it was a massive frustration to us all…. And this is like a bigger and bigger Combined Authority, but actually without the constraints of the Combined Authority. So yes, yes.”
After a specific Freedom of information (FOI) request for the evidence to document this confession the following was admitted:
“To our knowledge there was no written policy by government, but rather a general understanding - between the Arc Leaders’ Group and the government - that the Arc Leaders’ Group arrangements had no formal standing, and that the meetings were held in private unless there were specific items to engage the public on.”
Under FOI legislation, there is no mechanism to keep any government meeting private unless it falls under a specific exemption. Public bodies are very quick to claim every exemption that they can. That they have NOT done so in this case is evidence of the Arc Leadership Group’s misconduct. Ms Smith claimed that council leaders objected to this secrecy, but there is no record of them doing so. Instead, they continued to attend the meetings for more than two years, confirming their complicity in the concealment. They are experienced councillors who would be aware they were breaching the FOI legislation.[1] The recent governance record of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (cited as an exemplar above) and the history of corrupt development bodies in Cambridge[2] should have made them even more scrupulous in their behaviour. Their claimed lack of so-called ‘formal standing’ is not supported by their employment of at least seven staff, including a chief executive. At their meeting on 1 Oct 2021, attended by Christopher Pincher MP as housing minister, they agreed six recommendations and a budget, so clearly do have a ‘formal standing’. It would certainly appear in practice to be a joint council body within the Local Government Regulations 2012, whose meetings should be properly minuted, and not function on the basis of a vague ‘general understanding’. Some minutes, released under pressure, even conceal who attended the meeting.
The same meeting committed to the further development of the “Arc Spatial Framework” that was specifically intended to allow local plans (for housing and development) to be swept away by a joint development corporation or other body in order to circumvent community objections and challenges. There have been contradictory public statements and it is not known what was discussed in secret, but plans have included one million houses and a city region bigger than Greater Manchester.
The Oct 2021 meeting was attended by the following council leaders, who are all standing as candidates for re-election on 4 May 2023, but have not apologised for their behaviour. They continue to support the secret Oxford to Cambridge Partnership Shadow Board which repeatedly refuses to admit the public, redacts its minutes, and also refuses to have any form of scrutiny or oversight mechanism. Instead, they discussed their plans with developers and housebuilders at private conferences where the public are excluded by the £200 entrance fee.
Mayor Dave Hodgson, Bedford Borough, Bedford Borough Council
Other responsibility: Arc Transport LeadCllr Peter Marland, Wolverton ward, Leader Milton Keynes Council
Other responsibility: Co Chair Central Growth BoardCllr Richard Wenham, Arlesey ward, Leader Central Beds Council
Other responsibility: Co Chair Central Growth BoardCllr Wayne Fitzgerald, Peterborough West ward, Leader Peterborough City Council
Cllr Hazel Simmons, Lewsey ward, Luton Borough Council
STARC Chairman Charles Pither said:
“This admission finally confirms that there has been a culture of secrecy and misinformation to mislead the public over council leaders’ actual plans. They deliberately concealed what they were doing and are not fit and proper persons to be in elected office. They should not wait for the Information Commissioner to take action and should stand down immediately.”
[1] All councils have FOI “Publication Schemes” committing to publish minutes of all meetings. Under FOI, all information from public bodies is public unless specifically exempt. Local councils can only claim Section 36 exemption “prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs” if authorised.
[2] As highlighted by Stephen Barclay MP, now Health Secretary, and the National Audit Office (NAO).