Slow responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests at Caerphilly County Borough Council have prompted some councillors to question whether they are being used properly.

Officers told a scrutiny committee that councillors are free to ask them questions directly, rather than rely on legislation to obtain figures.

The 2000 Freedom of Information Act gives the public widespread access to information held by many public authorities.

A committee report shows the council responded to around 70% of FOI requests within the legal time limit of 20 working days last year.

Council officer Ian Evans said the FOI team had received “a significant increase” in “more time-consuming” requests, and was “doing our utmost” to be “more proactive”.

Cllr Sean Morgan asked whether better communication was needed between the council and people asking for information, noting the formal FOI process was “expensive and very time consuming to deal with”.

The committee report shows Caerphilly Council received 422 FOI requests between January and March – the highest rate in the past three years.

Cllr Roy Saralis claimed councillors were making FOI requests “instead of consulting with officers”.

He asked whether councillors had been “advised that this process is not necessary [and] they can come into the office and get all the information they need”.

Senior officer Mark S Williams recalled “a fairly frank conversation with one member”, advising them every FOI request “kicks off a process… [and] a whole raft of bureaucracy”.

He said that exchange had “made no difference”.

In response to a question from Cllr Andrew Farina-Childs, Mr Evans told the committee Caerphilly Council’s FOI workload was “comparable to others”.

Following the meeting, independent group leader Cllr Nigel Dix defended the use of FOIs as “a democratic right enshrined in law, ensuring the public, the press and elected members can fully scrutinise those who govern us”.

“The use of an FOI should never be a problem unless you are afraid of public scrutiny”, he said, adding that councillors “often” ask officers for information directly, but FOIs guaranteed accurate and timely responses as “enshrined in law”.

Cllr Dix said local government “should embrace and celebrate scrutiny” but alleged the Labour-run council “believes that scrutiny is a problem [and] something to be resisted – little wonder that consecutive local government audit reports have been critical of Caerphilly’s scrutiny process”.

In response, the council’s leader, Cllr Jamie Pritchard, claimed Cllr Dix was “conflating the submission of FOIs with the scrutiny process”.

“As leader of the council, I have opened scrutiny to levels not seen previously,” he said, noting his recent moves to increase questions at full council meetings and attend more scrutiny committee sessions.

“I’m on record saying scrutiny has to improve, but the scrutiny committees also have to drive that change,” he explained.

On access to information, Cllr Pritchard said it was “fair to say there are some members who prefer to submit FOIs instead of coming into the office to discuss the matter”.

He added: “Many requests can be answered easily in shorter time frames, without needing to submit an FOI. Just come to the office and discuss the matter. It’s really not rocket science.”