Report describes ‘fear and intimidation’ at Northumberland county council

Review found council was paralysed' due to processing freedom of information requests

Northumberland county council operated in a climate of fear and intimidation" so extreme that senior officers and councillors were constantly making Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to dig dirt on each other, a report has found.

An independent governance review into the council found it had become paralysed" due to the extraordinary" resources devoted to processing almost 5,000 FOI requests made within three years, many from senior officers and councillors.