WECA reject Freedom of Information request over £18 billion Bristol Underground plans
Civic chiefs at West of England Combined Authority have refused to release the report, despite findings already showing how much the scheme would cost
Last updated 8th Jul 2023
Civic chiefs have refused to release a report that found an underground for the Bristol region would cost up to £18billion – despite the fact the man in charge is happy for residents to see it.
The West of England Combined Authority (Weca) has rejected a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) for the full report to be published in the public interest.
This is despite the LDRS having already obtained and reported its conclusions that say a tube network for Bristol would cost between £15billion and £18billion, which would blow the project – a longtime pledge of city mayor Marvin Rees – out of the water.
Two other feasibility studies commissioned by Weca that were more favourable to an underground were published by Mr Rees on his blog in November, even though the combined authority is not run by him but by fellow Labour mayor Dan Norris – and yet the third report remains under wraps.
Weca democratic and legal services turned down our FOI request for that report in April and this week upheld this decision after we asked for an internal review.
Asked to comment, West of England metro mayor Mr Norris said: “I personally have no problem with the reports being released in full.”
That being the case, the LDRS asked again for the report, but has not heard back.
Weca says the full report will be published this autumn when long-awaited options for mass transit go before Weca committee and that if it was to do so now, it could “prejudice future decision-making and debate” and create a “misleading impression of the work being carried out”.
We submitted an FOI after Mr Norris was asked on BBC Points West in February for a one-word answer on whether the region would ever get an underground, and he said no.
We argued that the public has a right to see the report and that it was essential for public debate and decision making.
It’s a vital topic right now. Buses – the option preferred by Mr Norris, who is in charge of strategic transport – are being axed, communities left stranded and there appears to be no immediate solution to Bristol’s public transport woes.
As the LDRS revealed, the unpublished report by multinational consultancy giants WSP concluded that an underground would set taxpayers back between £15.5billion and £18.3billion, while an overground mass transit network would cost about 10 times less – £1.5billion to £1.8billion.
Mr Rees’s spokesperson said at the time that his office “totally rejects the report and its content” which it blamed on a “flawed approach” by Weca.
It put the real cost around £7billion, although even this is almost twice the original £4billion estimated price tag when hopes for an underground were first announced in 2017.
The combined authority’s initial response to our FOI in April said that under the Environmental Information Regulations, the report was “exempt from publication at this time as it relates to material that is still being completed, unfinished documents or incomplete data”.
It said: “It is the Authority’s intention that this information be taken through the democratic process at a future time and therefore believe it is in the public interest not to release the information at this time as the complete information will be available in due course.
“The Authority believes it may prejudice future decision-making and debate if the information was released now and therefore believes it is reasonable in the circumstances to not publish this information at this stage.”
Yet, on the subject of incomplete data, one of the two other reports Mr Rees released mentions the word “estimate” or “estimating” no fewer than 108 times and the second does so 34 times.
We argued this point to Weca but to no avail and we are appealing its decision to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The combined authority’s response on Tuesday, July 4, following its internal review said: “The WSP report is in draft and undergoing independent assurance to test the robustness of the benefits case and to shape options to recommend to take forward to Weca Committee approval to progress to Outline Business Case.
“As this would form just one element of any future discussions for Mass Transit in the region the Authority believes that releasing the Strategic Outline Case in its current draft would be misleading to the public as to the possible future for mass transit and therefore it is in the public interest not to release this information in its current draft form.”
It said Weca was “bringing forward proposals in the autumn of 2023 on options for Mass Transit”.
Weca’s response added: “The Authority is mindful that the issue of Mass Transit is of interest to the wider public and appreciates the need to be open, transparent and accountable and mindful of any environmental impacts the final proposals may have.
“However, this has to be balanced against not creating a misleading impression of the work being carried out.
“As the information is likely to be in the public domain in autumn 2023, the Authority believe that on balance it is reasonable in these circumstances to withhold this information until such time a report setting out the options for the future of Mass Transit can be brought forward to Committee.”