AN investigation into Kirklees Council’s leader has entered its second year – but will be completed by the start of next month. Last March the Examiner revealed that Clr Mehboob Khan had commented on Freedom of Information (FOI) responses before they were released.

Kirklees, like all public organisations, has a legal duty to reveal certain information when requested.

Emails seen by this paper showed that Clr Khan:

Asked if a request about council spending on Christmas came from “someone local” and then told the information officer that their proposed response was “incorrect and should not be released.”

Emailed his reaction to a proposed response to a request about the amount of council tax owed, saying: “This is not going out. Who prepared the response?”

Intervened in a response to a request for information about council spending on hiring celebrities for events. He wrote: “I suggest this response ... you will notice that it is different.”

The Labour man told the Examiner at the time that he had intervened to “clarify the information or put the response into context to give the best response.”

But opposition Lib Dem leader Clr Kath Pinnock labelled the revelations “disturbing”.