The Basingstoke Gazette says it requested an internal review of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s decision to refuse to disclose food hygiene inspection reports under the Freedom of Information Act, for establishments that have been rated as zero, one or two.
The borough council repeatedly refused reporters’ requests for years, The Basingstoke Gazette added, claiming they were exempt because the reports were being held as part of an investigation that could lead to enforcement action.
However, a subsequent Freedom of Information request revealed that the council had not taken any criminal prosecutions of food establishments in the last three years.
The Basingstoke Gazette argued that the exemptions the council had cited were misapplied, and that the public interest in transparency and public health far outweighed maintaining any temporary secrecy.
The borough council had interpreted a previous decision made in 2017 involving Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, when the Information Commissioner’s Office upheld a council’s refusal to disclose a food hygiene report.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council appeared to be using this to create a blanket precedent to withhold all low-rated food hygiene reports on the grounds that it might form part of a future enforcement action.
However, the Wigan case involved an ongoing investigation with identified potential criminal proceedings at the time of the request.
Using AI tools to assist, The Gazette says it argued that the ICO acknowledges strong public interest in disclosure of food hygiene reports.
Agentic AI was used to collate extensive case law relating to the refusal and to advise on potential legal avenues to challenge it.
Emily Roberts, head of news at the Basingstoke Gazette, said: “The council was withholding reports because of a theoretical possibility that it might initiate legal proceedings. We felt that a potential future enforcement simply couldn’t justify a blanket refusal of all low-scoring hygiene inspection reports.”
The Gazette argued that there is a clear public interest in disclosing these reports, promoting transparency and accountability in how the council carries out its responsibilities as a food authority while also allowing the public to understand the specific failings identified.
Numerical ratings alone don’t reveal the nature, extent, or specifics of hygiene problems, the publisher continued.
Emily added: “There is a huge difference between a business given a low rating because of structural reasons and there being a rat infestation or out-of-date food served, and we believe the public has a right to know if local businesses are meeting hygiene requirements, and if not, what issues were found and what is being done about it.
“The exemption used by the council is intended to be used to protect active investigations or prosecutions, not to keep the public in the dark about health risks once routine inspections have happened.”
The Gazette pointed out that if an investigation is not actively ongoing, or if enforcement action has concluded or is not being pursued, the justification for withholding a report collapses.
The council carried out a review and said it has now removed the blanket ban on releasing all low scoring hygiene inspection reports and will instead consider them individually to see if any exemptions are applicable.
The Gazette says it has already been sent two low-scoring reports, including for a hotel which has repeatedly been graded as one out of five.
Jody Doherty-Cove, head of AI at Newsquest, said: “This demonstrates how human reporters can work with an agentic AI to contest arbitrary decisions made by public bodies.
“AI identified possible routes to challenge the refusal by researching case law on this type of FOI refusal, and compiled relevant arguments by collating examples from councils that proactively publish full inspection reports on their websites or via disclosure logs.
“This formed a research pack that served as the starting point for a brilliant human-led endeavour to challenge the decision.
“The success at Newsquest paves the way for human reporters to become even more effective at holding authorities to account and securing the information to which the public is entitled.”
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