Veolia loses Notts contract disclosure dispute

The issue reached the High Court in London at the end of August after the French-owned company obtained an interim injunction in July 2009 to block information about costs and treatment methods being made public following a request by Nottinghamshire resident and anti-incineration campaigner Shlomo Dowen.

Mr Dowen claimed he was attempting to discover if the council was receiving “value for money” from the 26-year waste management deal, but Veolia argued that the release of commercial information could affect its ability to bid for contracts in the future.

At the end of the initial two-day hearing, the judge hearing the case, Mr Justice Cranston, chose to reserve judgement to a later date (see letsrecycle.com story).

But, passing down judgement today, Mr Justice Cranston ruled that Mr Dowen's status as a tax-payer meaning he had a part to play in ensuring the money was “well-spent”, and as such his right to view the documents was part of the “public process of audit”.

“Obligation”

The judge said: “The obligation to pay local taxation through the rates was matched by the right given to rate-payers to an involvement in the process of ensuring the money was well spent. It was a mechanism of democratic accountability through involvement in the public process of audit.

“Assisting the audit process included an opportunity for local government electors and other persons interested to inspect and copy the accounts and related documents. In my judgment it is entirely unsurprising that given its history the law should permit a local elector such as Mr. Dowen sight of the disputed documents in this case.”

“The historic role of interested persons such as local government electors in participating in the audit process would be severely diminished without such disclosure,” he added.

Following the judgement, the managing director of Veolia's Nottinghamshire operations, Steve Mitchell, revealed that the company accepted the judge's ruling and had no plans to appeal.

He said: “We first requested a legal ruling on this issue because we wanted to give clarity to local authorities, the general public and the waste management industry. The company accepts the judgement of the Court, the situation has now been clarified and we do not plan to appeal.

“We look forward to delivering the next phase of the Nottinghamshire PFI waste management and recycling contract and will continue to build on the achievements of the last three years,” he added.

Nottinghamshire

The judge's decision was welcomed by Mick Burrows, chief executive of Nottinghamshire county council.

“The council is pleased that the legal position in this respect has now been clarified for the future. The council's partnership with Veolia Environmental Services on its waste management contracts remains strong and we will continue to deliver first class services for Nottinghamshire residents,” he added.

Friends of the Earth, which represented Mr Dowen in court through its Rights and Justice Centre, hailed the decision as an “important precedent” and claimed that it would have “immediate impacts” for other councils across the country.

Friends of the Earth claimed that this was the third time Veolia had been “forcibly” made to divulge commercial information, citing an April 2008 ruling by the Information Commissioner.

Phil Michaels, Friends of the Earth's head of legal, and Mr Dowen's lawyer in the case, said: “This is a tremendous victory for freedom of information and the residents of Nottingham. Veolia must come clean about its waste disposal contract and allow council tax payers to see how vast sums of their money is being spent, and how their rubbish is being disposed of.”