{"id":3751,"date":"2021-04-22T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/procurement-reform-must-include-extension-of-foi\/"},"modified":"2024-05-03T09:39:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T08:39:49","slug":"procurement-reform-must-include-extension-of-foi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/blog\/2021\/04\/22\/procurement-reform-must-include-extension-of-foi\/","title":{"rendered":"Procurement Reform Must Include Extension of FOI"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government has been urged to extend Freedom of Information Act to contractors providing public goods and services as part of plans for post-Brexit public procurement.<\/p>\n

The Government’s ‘Transforming Public Procurement’ green paper uses the terms “transparent” or “transparency” no fewer than 64 times in its 82 pages, according to the Campaign for Freedom of Information.<\/p>\n

But while the emphasis on transparency is welcome, it raises the question of why the Government has not addressed the most conspicuous transparency defect in the UK’s procurement arrangements: much of the information the public might seek about public sector contracts is beyond the reach of FOI, the CFOI added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The News Media Association has joined the CFOI in calling for the extension of FOI to contractors performing public functions, arguing that hundreds of millions of pounds of public money is effectively exempt from public scrutiny.<\/p>\n

The Campaign is promoting a Private Member’s Bill to close this loophole by:<\/p>\n