Cable: Firms with public contracts must come under FOI rules

Private companies who work on public projects should be subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, Vince Cable will today demand.

The Liberal Democrat leader will make his case for the likes of outsourcing giants Capita and train operators like Govia ThamesLink to come under greater transparency rules as part of a major speech, outlining the problems with modern British capitalism, which he will give tomorrow at think tank IPPR.

Cable will say: "Private sector companies which deliver public sector services should be subject to Freedom of Information requests.

"This is an agenda my colleagues pushed in government, but was resisted by the Conservatives. Companies with a crucial role in supporting the basic infrastructure of the country must be accountable to the public.

"To give an example, the internal machinations about risk and responsibility which must have taken place in the train operating companies prior to introduction of the dreadful 'Rail Plan 2020', should be exposed to the light of day."

His speech comes as thousands of commuters around the country continue to suffer delays and cancellations to their usual train services, as the fallout from the Network Rail timetable update continues.

Yesterday the Prime Minister's spokesman said the government was doing what it could to get things "back to normal as quickly as possible", describing the situation as "unacceptable".

Cable is also expected to put forward a plan to overhaul public sector outsourcing in the wake of Carillion's collapse earlier this year.

[contf] [contfnew]

CityAM

[contfnewc] [contfnewc]