Freedom of Information law to cover private contractors

Freedom of information law is set to be extended to private companies carrying out public contracts, a government minister has said.

Speaking in parliament yesterday, Liberal Democrat justice minister Simon Hughes said the change would take place after the publication of a new code of practice, which he said should be in place by the end of this year.

He said the Freedom of Information requirements would be put into the contracts of firms that carry out work for the government.

“We do intend to extend [Freedom of Information] further as soon as it will be practical. We intend to publish a revised code of practice to make sure that those private companies that carry out public functions have freedom of information requirements in their contracts, and go further than that, and we hope that will be in place by the end of this year,” he said.