17 December 2004
The public sector should be less likely to accept 'blanket' commercial confidentiality clauses from private contractors once the Freedom of Information Act comes into force next month.
In an interview with Public Finance, assistant information commissioner Phil Boyd said the Act would tighten up procurement in the public sector, with bodies more easily held to account for their contracting decisions.
He said that in the past 'it may have suited' some authorities not to disclose information because the results could have been potentially embarrassing.
'The instinct has been not to disclose anything unless we have to, and accept confidentially clauses when the information isn't really confidential. At the very least, what will happen is the public authority will have to actually question those confidentiality clauses. And that's bound to change the way people operate.'
Boyd said the information commissioner expected that more data about problems in procurement, such as delays and IT cock-ups, would come to light much earlier.
He added that there would be two drivers for opening up commercial information: the precedents set as the information commissioner rules on disclosures, and the culture of the Act, which obliges bodies to be more open. Boyd said the commissioners would place public sector publication schemes under more scrutiny in future.
He dismissed private sector fears over the Act and said exemptions such as breach of confidence were robust and would work in parallel with current common law. Boyd said information that would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of companies could not be released during the bidding process.
'There is such a strong public interest in having a proper competition and anything that has distorted the tendering process must run contrary to the public interest,' he said. However, he said contracts, once let, would be open to more scrutiny.
Despite welcoming the Act, the CBI said there were areas of concern on which it was still awaiting guidance. John Williams, its director of public services , said: 'Greater clarity is needed on what information may be subject to public disclosure during a procurement process.
'We also want assurances that public sector bodies will notify or consult with private sector companies if they decide to make information available.'
PFdec2004
