Privatisation limits information access: Dunion
25 Oct 07
Information Commissioner wants legislation extended to safeguard public money
The Scottish Information Commissioner has called for extended freedom of information rights where public services are operated by private or charitable bodies.
Addressing the Fifth Annual Freedom of Information Conference in Edinburgh today, Commissioner Kevin Dunion pointed out that when council housing is transferred to a housing association or a charitable trust is established to run local authority leisure and recreation services, "local people and employees may find that they have lost freedom of information rights at a stroke, as these bodies are not regarded as public authorities”.
Mr Dunion also expressed concern that information on millions of pounds of public spending on health and education under PFI/PPP contracts is also difficult to access. Although in a ruling issued yesterday, reported on The Journal Online, he ordered disclosure of the contract covering the building and running of the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, in another case Edinburgh City Council was able to withhold details of its PFI/PPP contracts for schools in Edinburgh on the grounds that it would exceed the £600 threshold beyond which authorities need not provide information.
The Commissioner said: “One of the key purposes of the freedom of information legislation was to allow authorities to be held to account publicly for their spending. However in recent investigations I have found that contracts to build schools and hospitals can run to thousands of pages, and that authorities are able to withhold these on the grounds of cost or attempt to argue that the whole contract is confidential.”
Mr Dunion concluded: “I think it is important that we review which bodies are covered by the freedom of information laws, and in addition take steps to ensure that information rights ‘follow the money’, where significant sums of public spending are concerned. Measures can be taken to ensure that the new trusts are publicly owned, and there could be a requirement to publish PPP contracts subject to safeguarding genuinely confidential elements.”