A West Midlands council has been ordered to publish a historic child sex abuse report - here's why
A council in the West Midlands has been ordered to discolose documents relating to a historic child sex abuse review
Walsall Council has been ordered to disclose documents relating to a historic child sexual abuse review.
A tribunal ruling found an earlier decision to withhold the information by the authority was ‘wrong as a matter of law’.
In 2017, the Walsall local children safeguarding board commissioned a Serious Case Review into instances of child sexual abuse.
Professionals involved emphasised the scale and complexity of the investigation and the severity of the offences which had been committed.
Investigations by West Midlands Police led to several criminal trials and convictions.
Many Serious Case Review reports are made public to ensure accountability and drive improvements.
But in May 2023 the partnership stated that executives made the decision not to publish the report to protect those involved from identification.
BBC journalist Alex Homer submitted a Freedom of Information request to Walsall Council asking that the report and review material be disclosed.
But the authority said it did not hold the review material, and if it did, it would have to be so heavily redacted under Section 40 – personal information – that the remains would be meaningless.
The council also said disclosure would result in a risk to health and safety.
Mr Homer appealed the council’s response to the Information Commissioner, which found the authority held the information but was entitled to withhold it from disclosure under Section 40 of the act.
The journalist then appealed the Information Commissioner’s decision at a tribunal where it was found that the report should be disclosed within 35 days, subject to redactions.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has submitted an Freedom of Information request also requesting a copy of the report.
Tribubnal Judge Maton said: “Both the council and the commissioner applied an insufficiently specific and targeted approach to the application of exemptions in order to identify information that should be released and information that should be withheld.
“The tribunal concludes that the commissioner’s decision as set out in the decision notice was wrong as a matter of law.”
A Walsall Council spokesperson said: “We note the outcome of the tribunal and will comply with the decision set out.”
