My Lords, the Government are keen to promote transparency. As I have previously suggested, they are sometimes keener than their predecessors were to promote transparency and accountability around outsourced services. However, we agree with the Justice Select Committee’s recommendations in its post-legislative scrutiny of the Freedom of Information Act and consider that the better approach is to preserve transparency through contractual provisions, rather than the formal extension of the Freedom of Information Act at this time. In 2012 the Justice Select Committee considered in detail during its post-legislative scrutiny the challenge of how to deal with contractors of public authorities. The committee concluded that,
“contracts provide a more practical basis for applying FOI to outsourced services than partial designation of commercial companies under section 5 of the Act”.
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The Government agreed with the Justice Committee’s recommendation that contracts should include provisions specifying that contractors should fully assist public
authorities in meeting their obligations under the Freedom of Information Act. The Government will encourage public authorities to include and enforce transparency clauses in contracts to ensure that openness and accountability are maintained, and a revised code of practice will be issued later this year. I stress that this is something with which the Government are currently engaged and that the Cabinet Office is helping to standardise across government. This will also encourage the inclusion of clauses in contracts that go beyond current Freedom of Information Act obligations and require the release of a wider range of information about contract delivery.
We believe that this, coupled with the wealth of information about contracts already available from public authorities, both proactively and in response to FOI requests, strikes an appropriate balance between transparency and reducing burdens on business. The Government and the Information Commissioner will monitor the success of this approach during 2014. It is only right that we should give the approach we have already outlined time to bed in over the next 12 months before deciding whether further action might be justified. We strongly urge public authorities and contractors to strive for the maximum possible transparency under these arrangements. Should an appropriate level of transparency not be achieved, public authorities and contractors alike should be under no illusions that we will consider what other steps we should take, including the potential extension of the Freedom of Information Act.
There are cost issues, which I know the noble Lord wishes to push to the side, but they cannot be entirely ignored. I shall not rehearse them yet again but issues of cost as well as issues of potential benefit cannot entirely be ignored. Having rehearsed these arguments through various stages of this Bill, I reiterate—