Events funding, public disclosure and the Ombudsmen
The Office of the Ombudsmen has recently issued advice on the way in which it approaches requests for information on payments made by councils in order to attract events, particularly events that have a peripatetic quality, i.e. are not confined to any specific locality.
Events funding frequently attracts large amounts of community interest, especially when celebrities are involved, and queries frequently end up on the desks of the Ombudsmen. The question both councils and the Ombudsmens' Office are forced to work out is whether or not the public interest in disclosing the size and nature of any payments made to attract the events outweighs the need for confidentiality.
Councils often argue that they are prevented from releasing the amounts paid to attract events because of the contractual nature of their agreements with event promoters, or because it will threaten their ability to bid for future events.
The advice issued by the Ombudsmens' Office shows the approach the Office takes when weighing up these issues. In their considerations they consider both whether breaching confidentiality would be damaging to the public interest as well as the related question of whether the public interest will be enhanced by the release of this information.
The Office has developed a number of principles to assist with determining "whether the public interest in withholding information relating to an event is outweighed by the public interest in release"; these concern the source of any grant or payment; the size and their nature.
In relation to the source of any payment it is assumed that there will be a strong public interest in knowing that the payment itself has been made in accordance with accepted policy and procedures - that the payment has been properly authorized. It is unlikely that information indicating that payments have been made properly would ever be withheld.
The larger any payment, especially in proportion to each council, the greater the public interest is likely to be, consequently size is a factor in the Ombudsmen's considerations. Also, the nature of payments, whether they are one-off grants or an ongoing commitment, is likely to have implications for the way the Office approaches the public interest test. Public interest will be enhanced where a council incurs a contingent liability or financial risk.
For more information either contact the Ombudsmens' Office or click here for the full advice.
