Manchester City Council has spent more than £24,000 on legal fees opposing a new village green a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

The Manchester Gazette report:

South Manchester MP John Leech has today slammed Labour run Manchester City Council for wasting time and money opposing a community bid for a village green in Withington.

Under a Freedom of information request submitted by Manchester Liberal Democrats, the Council have confirmed that, so far, they have spent 550 Officer hours on the issue, and taken legal advice costing £24,750 including VAT.

The average pay of staff in the legal department of Manchester City Council is about £35,000.

You can read the full story here. 

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.