A TASK group has been set up to recommend whether Lancashire County Council should turn the clock back 17 years and start considering some reports in secret and not release them to the press.

The task group was set up after council leader Coun Hazel Harding sent plans for the proposed information ban (which the cabinet appears to back) for further consideration by the overview and scrutiny committee.

Coun Harding earlier said the information shutdown was all about "behaving responsibly" when the council dealt with material which was "commercially sensitive or related to individuals."

When Coun Harding became leader last year she followed Tony Blair in pledging more open government.

Yesterday a government minister urged publicly accountable bodies of all kinds to act in the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act passed last year - even though it does not come into full force for another four years.

Lancashire County Council is going in the opposite direction to these sentiments and showing contempt for council taxpayers who have a basic right to know what is being done in their name with their money.