Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has reviewed whether Freedom of Information legislation should apply to GP Federation Organisations awarded taxpayer funded contracts.

The Department has not reviewed this issue because Freedom of Information legislation already covers information that is held on behalf of a public authority. Additionally, guidance provided by the Information Commissioner encourages public authorities to adopt a ‘transparency by design’ approach when they are drawing up an outsourcing contract to deliver public services.

Information that is held by a contractor or a third party organisation on behalf of a public authority will be covered by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

General practitioner services are normally commissioned by NHS England or by clinical commissioning groups acting on behalf of NHS England. NHS England and clinical commissioning groups are both listed as public authorities in Schedule I of the Freedom of Information Act and are therefore subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.