Groundbreaking Scottish FOI decision orders full disclosure of PFI contract

In a groundbreaking decision, the Scottish Information Commissioner has ordered disclosure of the full contract governing a PFI deal between a Scottish health authority and a private contractor. This includes disclosure of full details of the commercial arrangements between the parties, including information about profits made by the private sector company under the PFI deal.

It will be interesting to see if this decision is followed by the English Information Commissioner. For now it’s certainly a warning to all private companies entering into contracts with the public sector that any agreed FOI exclusion or consultation processes included within the contract may not be enough if disclosure is, say, determined to be in the public interest.