Powys Leader wants to be questioned instead of submitting FOI requests

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Powys council leader Jake Berriman has urged residents to approach him directly with questions rather than submit Freedom of Information requests, which he says are placing increasing demands on council staff.

His comments came as Cabinet considered the council's annual information governance report, which revealed that 1,348 requests for information were received during 2025/26, a 4.5% increase on the previous year's 1,289.

The figures cover requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and Subject Access Requests (SARs).

Cllr Berriman (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod Wells) said the growing number of requests was creating additional work for officers, particularly when complex information had to be gathered from across the authority.

"These things seem to be a one-way street, they are increasing all the time, and they are often quite complex and involve lots of officers putting information together," he said.

"Personally, I have been subject to two FOIs and duly replied in accordance with the requirements.

"But what I would say is that the bit of paper to produce a response has been handled multiple times before it reached me."

He suggested residents could save time by raising their questions directly through his monthly online 'Time to Talk' sessions.

"I do have, tomorrow in fact, a Time to Talk session where I am available to all members of the public to ask me questions and have a conversation on any topic they wish to," he said.

"It might be easier to ask the question that you have directly to me."

The sessions, introduced after Cllr Berriman became council leader last year, allow up to 12 residents each month to question him for eight minutes on any subject.

However, the report also revealed that the council continues to miss its own targets for responding to formal information requests.

The authority aims to answer 90% of requests within statutory deadlines, but achieved just 77% for FOI requests during 2025/26, down from 79% the previous year.

Performance on environmental information requests also slipped, from 79% to 78%, while the proportion of Subject Access Requests completed on time increased slightly from 49% to 50%.

Cabinet member Cllr Raiff Devlin (Liberal Democrat – Talybont-on-Usk) acknowledged that improvements were needed, particularly in dealing with a backlog of Subject Access Requests.

"The most significant challenge remains Subject Access Requests, where demand continues to grow and there is a backlog of older requests," he said.

"Reducing the backlog and improving performance in that area is a key priority for the coming year."

He added that the council had received an overall assessment of "reasonable assurance" for its information governance arrangements, meaning its systems were broadly effective despite areas requiring improvement.

Cllr Berriman is not the first Powys Cabinet member to encourage residents to seek answers informally.

In 2019, former Conservative Cabinet member James Evans, who subsequently became a Senedd Member and is now with Reform UK, made a similar appeal, urging residents to "save time and money" by approaching councillors or officers directly rather than submitting FOI requests.

At that time, the council had received 1,420 information requests during 2018/19.

Cabinet noted the latest report.