'Inadvertently published' report queries council policy

15 March 2024

Richard Madden,BBC Newsand

Ivan Morris Poxton,Local Democracy Reporting Service

News image — The council said the comments were part of 'completely normal, every day practice'

Local Democracy Reporting Service North Lincolnshire Council building in Scunthorpe — The council said the comments were part of 'completely normal, every day practice'

An internal council report containing comments from an officer querying decision-making has been accidentally published.

The comments in the North Lincolnshire Council cabinet document include questions about job vacancies and the authority's transport fleet.

One remark questioned why there wasn't investment in better vehicles and claimed not doing so "could bite us".

The council said the "workings out" were "completely normal" and helped with the decision-making process.

North Lincolnshire Council A screenshot of comments that were inadvertently published by North Lincolnshire Council — The officer had questioned decisions over transport vehicle spending and job vacancies

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, eight comments in total were inadvertently published, and most related to the phrasing of an earlier version of the report.

Another comment related to a £3.7m underspend forecast on council employment costs which the report states is due to vacancies across the council.

But the inadvertently published officer comment asks: "Are we sitting on vacancies to artificially reduce spend?"

North Lincolnshire Council A comment questioning job vacancies at North Lincolnshire Council — In total, eight comments were published on the report which was publicly available

A council spokesperson said: "A report was inadvertently published which showed some of the workings out, a completely normal, every day practice in relation to any and all paperwork.

"It is critically important that information for decision making is accurate and properly reflects the position so that councillors are accurately sighted and residents properly informed."

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.