Using Freedom of Information laws the CNJ has lifted the lid on some Town Hall secrets. This is what we discovered

TOWN Hall officials were ordered to destroy documents before the Freedom of Information Act came into force in January, the New Journal has learned, writes Kim Janssen.
The act, which gives the public a right to see internal council documents for the first time, provoked a wide-ranging review of files held at the Town Hall in the period running up to Christmas.
Council staff were told to “weed files” and “throw out unnecessary papers”, particularly those that may be a “risk” to the council.
They were warned that there would no longer be “a good day to bury bad news” and ordered to be “more sensitive” in the language they use in emails to each other to prevent embarrassing disclosures.
The revelations came after the New Journal used powers under the act to see documents showing how chief lawyer Alison Lowton and her staff prepared for the act’s introduction.
Council press officials insist the order to destroy old files was a housekeeping exercise designed to make it easier to find important, current files, and say they have “no record” of any files actually being destroyed.
They say the order to be “more sensitive” and the warning about “burying bad news” – a reference to the email sent by Department of Transport spin doctor Jo Moore in the wake of the World Trade Center attack – are not tacit admissions of past misconduct and in fact reflect well on the council.
And they say the “risk” posed by old documents to the council, referred to in at least two documents, was simply that they would get in the way of finding important files in time.
But the Campaign for the Freedom of Information described the weeding revelations as “worrying”.
A Campaign spokesman said: “Clearly, it is important for authorities to get their records management up to speed to enable them to respond to requests efficiently, and records management has been neglected by many authorities for years.
“However, the suspicion is that embarrassing information or information that people may want to request is being deliberately destroyed.”
The files released last week contain an admission by leisure department officials that the council would not have systems in place to deal with requests in time.
Requests made so far this year by the New Journal have all been responded to within the 20-working-day limit, but discrepancies in the way departments handle requests indicate there are still teething problems.
Another document shows staff were told to “brainstorm areas of public and press interest” at meetings in the run-up to January, although the council says no minutes were taken at these meetings.
Embarrassing leaks from the Town Hall in recent years include an attempt to smear Camden Town community campaigner Barry Sullivan and the revelation that all answer-phones at the Town Hall had the same security code, making it easy to hack into staff mailboxes.