Photograph by Lars Schmidt
More and more of public services – such as prisons, the health service and schools – are being given by this government to be run by the private sector. There are legitimate concerns about some of their practices and ways of working but private companies delivering public services are beyond the disinfecting sunlight of freedom of information. This is wrong, and Labour is committed to extend the Freedom of Information Act to include the private sector. This would cover the use of taxpayers’ money to pay private companies and the voluntary sector that deliver public services.
Last week’s tagging scandal with G4S and Serco is an example of millions of pounds of public money buying services that are beyond the realm of transparency, removing a crucial check and balance. There is a real urgency to changing the law, as the Tory-led Government are handing over more and more of our public sector to private companies, meaning less and less of taxpayers’ money is subject to freedom of information.
Written by Sadiq Khan MP
Sadiq Khan MP is Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary
