A government watchdog has reprimanded North Yorkshire Council and ordered it to conduct further searches for information regarding its "Blue Sky Thinking" proposals for Scarborough Harbour.
North Yorkshire Council has been reprimanded and told to carry out further searches for information about a major harbour project.
The Council did not carry out sufficient searches for information about a Scarborough Harbour project, a government watchdog has ruled.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued the ruling last month after a complaint was made following a request for information from the council relating to “Blue Sky Thinking” proposals for the future development of Scarborough Harbour.
The long-term “Blue Sky” vision for Scarborough Harbour is part of the authority’s decade-long Harbours Strategy.
In August, the watchdog ordered council officers to “carry out further searches and enquiries outside the harbour function, including enquiries of the Chief Executive’s Office and relevant elected members for any retained information falling within the scope of the request, and to provide a fresh response to the complainant”.
It added that this was because the council had “not carried out sufficient searches in order to determine, on the balance of probabilities, that no information is held falling within the scope of the request”.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant chief executive for legal and democratic services, Barry Khan, said:
“When the request was received, we checked with the services most likely to hold the information, but no relevant records were identified at the time.
“A copy of the information was later provided to the applicant, so the request has now been fulfilled.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he added:
“The Information Commissioner’s Office has asked us to carry out further searches.
“While this work is underway, we do not expect the outcome to change as the information has already been supplied.”
This summer, council bosses approved a 10-year strategy to capitalise on both new and traditional industries at Scarborough Harbour, Whitby Harbour, and Filey’s Coble Landing as part of a wider masterplan developed by the authority.
Among the opportunities highlighted in the harbour strategy is the opportunity to build on the offshore wind industry.
At a recent meeting of the Scarborough Harbour Users Group, the Blue Sky proposals were highlighted in relation to a long-discussed boat lift and marina expansion project, which attendees said could generate more than £1.4 million annually.
Robin Gray, chairman of the Scarborough Harbour Advisory Board, told the meeting that he had developed a Green Book-standard business case setting out the potential economic benefits of a boat lift and associated marine facilities.
Council bosses are set to make further decisions regarding Scarborough Harbour’s West Pier redevelopment later this year.
The £15 million plans to transform the historic pier and ensure it remains a working harbour and a popular visitor destination are set to require additional funding due to an “increase in costs”.
According to council documents, the additional expenditure is expected to be less than £1 million, but exact costs are yet to be announced.
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