MPs call for extension of the FOI Act to cover contracted out public services

An Early Day Motion calling for the extension of the FOI Act to cover contracted out public services has been tabled by Labour MP Grahame Morris and co-sponsored by Caroline Lucas (Green), Mark Durkan (SDLP), John McDonnell (Lab), Margaret Ritchie (SDLP) and Peter Bottomley (Con):

That this House praises the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the transparency and openness it has brought to the public sector and the public right of access of information held by central and local government and its agencies; notes that public services delivered by private companies are currently beyond the scope of the 2000 Act; further notes that, as growing amounts of public services are privatised, ever decreasing amounts of public spend are subject to freedom of information; and supports calls to extend the legislation so that public services contracted out to the private and third sector are covered by freedom of information legislation.

The contracting out of public authority functions to bodies which are not subject to the FOI Act is likely to severely undermine the public’s rights to information. For further information, see the Campaign's evidence to the Justice Committee's review of the Act last year (pg 15-19).

The motion is open for other MPs to sign. Please write to your MP and ask them to sign EDM 613 on 'Extension of Freedom of Information Act 2000'.  You can check the list of MPs that have signed here.

Crunch week for FOI in Scotland as Parliament debates coverage

The Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland (CFoIS) has urged the Scottish Parliament to back a series of amendments to the Scottish Government's Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. This Bill is to have its Stage 3 debate in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 16 January and a series of amendments are proposed to ensure FOI rights extend to public services provided by private, voluntary and arms-length bodies.

The CFoIS wants the Scottish Government to heed the concerns expressed by the Finance Committee's Stage One report. The Campaign is taking part in a briefing meeting for MSPs on Tuesday 15 January, the day before the Parliamentary debate, and will be circulating a written briefing outlining the need to amend this bill to reinstate eroded rights to information. The meeting will be chaired by Paul Martin MSP, and addressed by Carole Ewart of the CFoIS.

Carole Ewart, Co-Convener of the CFoIS, said:

"A number of MSPs, including members of the Finance Committee, have submitted amendments to this Bill, as the Scottish Government appears unable or unwilling to accept our arguments in favour of protecting our information rights."

The major reason why the Bill should be strengthened is to retrieve peoples's information rights lost as increasing outsourcing of our public services removes services from coverage. Neither the Scottish Government nor previous Scottish Executive Administrations have ever used their powers to add named bodies and categories of bodies to the list of organisations covered.

Amending the Bill is also necessary to meet the Scottish Government's own FoI principles, 1 and 2: that "the public's right to know remains an essential part of an open, democratic government and responsive public services" and FoISA "will be adjusted where it is necessary and sensible to do so".

Carole Ewart said:

"At a time when Audit Scotland estimates over 130 arms-length bodies are involved in delivering public services, and when the Scottish Government is proposing bills like the Procurement, and Community Empowerment Bills that will bring more bodies into public service delivery, it is very concerning that they seem oblivious to the threats these pose to everyone's right to know about how our cash is spent."

Notes:

The Briefing for MSPs will be held in Committee Room 1 from 1.15pm on Tuesday 15 January.

A copy of the briefing sent to MSPs in advance of the debate is available from the CFoIS website http://www.cfoi.org.uk/scotland.html.

There is an email message available on the UNISONScotland website, that allows Campaign supporters to lobby their MSPs.

Human Rights Committee concerned new National Crime Agency will be exempt from FOI

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has published a Report on the Crime and Courts Bill which will be considered at Report stage in the House of Lords from Tuesday 27 November. In its Report the Committee expresses concern that the new National Crime Agency to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act:

19. The Bill provides for the NCA to be exempt from freedom of information ("FOI") legislation. The NCA's predecessor, the Serious Organised Crime Agency ("SOCA") was similarly exempt from the FOI Act, but the functions which the NCA will take on from the UK Border Agency and the National Policing Improvement Agency were not previously exempt.

20. We asked the Government for its justification for excluding from the scope of the FOI legislation functions which were formerly within the scope of that legislation. The Government's response is that the functions transferring into the NCA which were formerly within the scope of FOI legislation are expected to make up only a small part of the Agency (about 8% of staff and 5% of budget), and it is not considered possible to ring-fence the functions of the precursor agencies for the purposes of the application of FOI legislation. This, the Government explains, is because the NCA is being designed as an integrated whole—to ensure a free flow of information between the central intelligence hub and all parts of the Agency, and it would defeat the purpose of such an approach if individual parts had to be cordoned off as subject to the FOI Act. Precursor units are also considered to be unlikely to be clearly identifiable as distinct entities within the new NCA.

21. The Government also states that it is committed to ensuring that the NCA will be transparent, notwithstanding that FOI legislation will not apply to it. The Director General will be under a statutory duty to make arrangements for publishing information about the exercise of NCA functions, and the sorts of information that will be published will be set out in the NCA's Framework Document, which will itself be published and laid before Parliament. The Government expects that as a result the NCA will in fact publish more information than its predecessors.

22. We are not convinced by the Government's justification for reducing the coverage of freedom of information legislation by including within the NCA exemption functions which were previously covered by that legislation. We are concerned that reducing the coverage of this legislation in this way could create a dangerous precedent. It is not uncommon for this legislation to apply to certain of an organisation's functions but not others, and we need a good deal more evidence from the Government to persuade us why the NCA should be any different.

During the Bill's Committee stage in the House of Lords, Baroness Hamwee moved an amendment to to make the NCA subject to the FOI Act. Following a reply from the Home Office minister, Lord Henley, the Baroness said "I am afraid that I remain unconvinced" that the NCA "should be exempt in its totality". She withdrew the amendment but said "this issue justifies further examination".