Labour’s refusal to release vital documents shows contempt for the safety of vulnerable children

In recent weeks we have heard how the ill-conceived changes to the home to school transport service have left it heading for a £1 million overspend. The new set up was supposed to save at least £20,000 a year.

We have heard accounts of parents being too frightened to complain to Brighton and Hove City Council.

We have been told the council did not share safety-critical pupil information sheets with those transporting vulnerable children – and in numbers far greater than the council has declared to councillors.

We have listened to stories of children being transported in inappropriate groups, in overcrowded vehicles and for too long a time.

We have also listened to the Labour administration make profound apologies and promise unequivocally to learn the lessons, be fully transparent, leave no stone unturned and seek the truth.

Yet despite these pledges, this Labour council continues to refuse to hand over key documents in answer to requests made under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.

One FoI request is now some 100 days old – the council says it is dealing with this request – and it is missing disclosure dates even after the complaints procedure has been initiated.

This request relates to correspondence surrounding the appointment of consultants and officer use of “urgency” powers to overturn previous democratic committee decisions made by councillors.

Another outstanding FoI request, which Labour refuses to answer, is whether the council is in dispute with the consultants Edge Public Solutions Ltd. Edge has a £499,000 contract to “modernise” the service and make the savings.

We still have no answers as to why this debacle is not important enough to be considered for inclusion in the council’s Corporate Risk Register.

Nor why it seems that one transport operator may have been carrying vulnerable children in breach of licensing and insurance laws – or why it operated without appropriately trained staff – with the council seemingly aware but allowing the practice continue for over a week.

Worryingly, during interviews with the Independent Review set up to investigate these problems, it was left to us to provide key documents to the investigators.

We had to obtain these documents from the council by making “freedom of information” requests – but it seems the investigators were not given the same crucial information.

For months we have had road blocks placed in our path as we try to understand what went so badly wrong – and committees seemingly working to impede and thwart our attempts to obtain clear and truthful answers.

We have been forced to use the law to obtain basic details and yet even that route is blocked – the law is not being complied with.

Nothing to do with this shocking situation that affects our most vulnerable children has been willingly supported by the Labour administration.

Everything we do is a battle to extract fragments of data to try to discover what has been going on.

We want to believe Labour’s stated desire to be open and transparent. We want to believe that they seek the truth, they can learn the lessons and they genuinely accept culpability for this fiasco.

However, all the time they refuse to hand over documents that they hold in our name, refuse to answer the questions, keep information back from those investigating this debacle or delay in meeting their statutory obligations under freedom of information legislation, they make it hard for us or any anybody else to trust them.

If they have nothing to hide and nothing to fear, they should stop refusing to release vital information that it is clearly in the public interest for us all to see.

Until then, we can only presume their pledges are merely lip-service as they dedicate more time to hiding the truth.

Councillor Lee Wares and Councillor Mary Mears are the deputy leaders of the Conservative group on Brighton and Hove City Council.