Information Commissioner Calls For Urgent Action To Bring Contractors Under Scope Of FOI

Elizabeth Denham has called for urgent action to bring private companies providing public services under the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, adding that the collapse of Carillion and the Grenfell Tower tragedy had “sharpened” her resolve to improve transparency.

In a report ‘Outsourcing Oversight? The case for reforming access to information law’, the Information Commissioner laid out a series of recommendations designed to improve the quality of service by increasing the transparency of public authorities and organisations delivering public services.

The News Media Association has campaigned for many years to defend the FOI Act from restrictions and for its extension to cover local and national government contractors providing public services, arguing that it improved public oversight and public accountability, which would thereby also add value for the taxpayer.

The ICO report cited independent research by YouGov which found that, despite the fundamental role that private companies play as one of the major providers of public services, with the Government spending £284 billion a year on external suppliers, only 23 per cent of the public thought information about their activities was accessible.

The report – which said that the regime covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland was lagging behind other countries – cited a series of high-profile examples such as the collapse Carillion and the Grenfell Tower tragedy where greater transparency could have been beneficial.

Ms Denham said: “Urgent action is required because progress has been too slow. It is now time to act. This report sets out solutions that can extend the law to make it fit for the modern age. I am committed to working with Government and Parliament to achieve this report’s vision of more accountable public services, regardless of how they are delivered.”

The report recommended a series of measures to strengthen FOI through greater use of the exisitign powers under Section 5 of the FOIA including:

• Designate contractors regarding the public functions they undertake where this would be in the public interest, whether because of the scale, duration or public importance of the contracts;
• Designate a greater number of other organisations exercising functions of a public nature, and do so more frequently and efficiently. The report cites examples such as housing associations, local safeguarding children’s boards, electoral registration officers and returning officers;
• Consider reforming the EIR to allow organisations exercising functions of a public nature, including contractors, to be designated to increase consistency across the two information access regimes;
• Amend Section 3 of FOIA and regulation 3 of the EIR (held on behalf of provisions) to give a clearer legislative steer about what information regarding a public sector contract is held for the purposes of the legislation.
• Introduce a legal requirement to report on the coverage of the legislation.

The report added: “We have said that strong information access rights can improve services. Greater transparency and accountability regarding outsourced public services could reduce corruption, promote an open and competitive market for a more diverse range of suppliers (a key Government target), encourage innovation, increase collaboration in the supply markets, lead to greater efficiencies and improve value for money for the taxpayer.”