FOI request (FOIR-860278761)

The Allotment Federation has taken advice from the National Allotment Society about the accountability expected of local authorities in return for the rent money which plot-holders pay. They said in general terms "If it became clear that the rents were not only being used for the maintenance and improvement of the allotments, then it may leave the council open to being challenged".

As we have previously argued to the Council, the way to avoid any disquiet in this area (of the sort demonstrated by the ***** exercise) is for the Council to be open and transparent in terms of income and expenditure about rents raised and how they are spent. So I am now writing to repeat our request for the Council now to provide:

* Detailed income and expenditure outturn for allotments for 2025/26

* The income and expenditure budget for 2026/27

We realise that a big element of the expenditure will relate to staff costs, but we would not expect these to be broken down by individual staff member, of course.