Reform UK’s Nottinghamshire County Council ban on engaging with journalists from Nottinghamshire Live has been lifted after more than a month.
The end of the dispute comes days after Nottinghamshire Live, the Reach-owned website connected to the Nottingham Post newspaper, launched a legal challenge via a letter to the council.
The ban, implemented in August, meant Reform UK’s county councillors including council leader Mick Barton were not engaging with Nottinghamshire Live journalists.
The publication was also taken off the county council’s press release distribution list and was not to be invited to publicly-funded council events.
The ban was loosened on Monday when the three BBC-funded local democracy reporters based with Nottinghamshire Live were told they could once again interact with the council. But it has now ended altogether.
Nottinghamshire Live editor Natalie Fahy said: “I’m pleased this unprecedented ban has been lifted and the situation finally resolved, so that we can continue to get on with our jobs as we always have done.
“That means asking questions of elected council officials, having access to publicly-funded information and events and holding them to account on behalf of our communities in Nottinghamshire.
“This sends a firm message that journalists will not back down if our freedoms are attacked.”
Why Nottinghamshire Live said Reform UK ban had no legal basis
The ban had been put in place after Nottinghamshire Live published an article about Barton “advising his group to back a controversial expansion of Nottingham after one of them said she was ‘not happy’ with the plans”.
The county council leadership were said to be unhappy with the claim that those not voting with Barton could be suspended. Nottinghamshire Live said it had put the claim to the councillors concerned and Barton and none took the opportunity to deny it.
Nottinghamshire Live’s legal challenge to the council argued that the ban was in breach of local government regulations, Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Nottinghamshire County Council’s councillor code of conduct.
It argued that the ban was an executive decision made by the council, meaning it should have fulfilled certain obligations under local government regulations such as a formal written decision with the reasons given and any alternatives considered.
Nottinghamshire County Council has argued Barton and other councillors made the decision in their “capacity as politicians” and that it therefore was not an executive decision.
The publication also said the ban had no legal basis “due to its irrationality”.
Council claims ‘miscommunication or misunderstanding’
Geoff Russell, Nottinghamshire County Council’s team manager for litigation, responded in a letter on Thursday saying there had been some “miscommunication or misunderstanding” around the ban.
However, a statement from Barton in August stated that the council’s Reform group “will not be engaging with Nottinghamshire Live or with any other media outlet we consider to be consistently misrepresenting our policies, actions, or intentions. Selective reporting, distortion, or omission undermines not only our Council but also the right of the public to accurate information.”
The council’s letter on Thursday said: “To the extent that the leader of the county council or any other elected member wishes to restrict or decide who may or may not be invited or interviewed for any private matter, function, or meeting, that is entirely a matter for the individual concerned.
“What I can state however, is that Nottinghamshire County Council confirms that your clients are and remain entitled to attend functions, meetings which are open to the public. In addition, I can confirm that your clients will receive publications to email distributions lists to which they and all other media outlets are ordinarily entitled.
“Finally, I would just like to reiterate that Nottinghamshire County Council remains committed to the principles of openness in Local Government. I hope this clarifies the matter which I now regard as closed.”
Nottinghamshire Live said it remains unclear if Barton will speak to its journalists but that it is “committed to building a working relationship going forward”.
The publication also said it “welcomes the lifting of the ban and hopes it serves as a precedent for any further potential attempts to restrict press coverage in the UK.
“We stand ready to continue providing the same fair yet scrutinising coverage on Reform UK’s running of the county council that we always have done and that we provide on all major authorities in our area, on behalf of our readers.”
[Read more: Nottingham Post vindicated over characterisation of police ‘non-disclosable’ briefing]
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