Leading Liberal Democrats have made two recent interventions on freedom of information legislation.
Today, Alistair Carmichael called for all private contractors doing public work to also be subject to FOI requests and promised strong opposition to any attempts from the Conservatives to water down the FOI system.
The call comes amidst reports that ministers may extend FOI requests to charities. From the Press Gazette:
The Government is considering strengthening the ministerial veto on Freedom of Information disclosures but dropping other proposed changes to the act, according to a report in The Times.
It is also considering extending the act to cover charities and private sector companies which work on public sector projects, the paper reports.
The Goverment’s Independent Commission on Freedom of Information was set up to review the act last year in the wake a Supreme Court decision which over-rode a ministerial veto and ordered the disclosure of letters sent by Prince Charles to ministers.
The commission has faced a huge backlash from media groups, charities, trade unions and civil society bodies because its consultation document suggested it was only looking at ways to reduce the “burden” which FoI places on the public sector.
Alistair Carmichael said: