An order has come into effect bringing the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), university admissions body UCAS and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) under the scope of the Freedom of Information Act.
Following a period of consultation, the Ministry of Justice has extended the Act to these three bodies on the basis that they all perform functions of a public nature.
Justice Minister Lord McNally, who signed the order, explained: “The public clearly deserves a Government that’s open and accountable for its actions, but I strongly believe that this should also apply to any organisation exercising public functions.”
He added: “I was pleased that, during our consultation with ACPO, UCAS and the Financial Ombudsman Service, they were all open to the idea of being brought under the Freedom of Information umbrella.”
Lord McNally also stated: “The Government is currently consulting a range of other bodies including the Local Government Association, examination boards and harbour authorities on being brought within the scope of the Act, and I hope we will soon see an even greater number of organisations opening themselves up to the public in this way.”
The Ministry of Justice has already announced a range of other measures being introduced to extend and enhance the performance of the Freedom of Information Act. These include:
In addition, the Cabinet Office has recently announced its Open Data Consultation which looks at transparency more generally across the public sector, but is also seeking views on Freedom of Information.
GB pound 10 million funding promised for Digital by Default delivery programme
As part of the Government’s commitment to delivering “world class digital products”, Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude has announced the Identity Assurance programme will now be receiving an extra GB pound 10 million in funding.
The Identity Assurance programme deals with the way in which a service provider can be assured that the customer or user is who they say they are as they access Government services.
Francis Maude made the announcement at the ‘Ensuring Trusted Services with the new Identity Assurance Programme’ event. Speaking to heads of leading UK technology firms he updated them on the Identity Assurance programme and issued a call to action for companies to work with the UK Government to develop solutions for the project.
Maude said: “The UK has a great technological heritage and in Identity Assurance we have a unique opportunity to create jobs and growth in a new area – one in which I believe we can lead the world. Our ambition is for this programme to create new private sector enterprise, new investment, more jobs and ultimately produce trusted solutions which will be key to ensuring citizens are confident to engage with the Government online.”
The minister continued: “In Government we will ensure a consistent user-focused approach, not driven by short term business needs but rather by a quality service to citizens.”
To deliver the Identity Assurance programme, Maude stressed it’s imperative that the Government encourages and works with the private sector.
“The Government will aim to provide a supportive role so that companies can develop solutions that work not just for us but also for the citizen,” he commented.
Central Identity Assurance programme team
Some of the money will be used to establish a central Identity Assurance programme team under Mike Bracken’s leadership in the Government Digital Service.
While speaking at the same event, Bracken explained: “It’s no longer acceptable to develop large-scale Government ICT projects while user demand for, and the usage of digital identity services continues to develop so quickly. Previous timelines have extended for many years while in the meantime the ability of users and technology move on apace.”
Bracken continued: “We intend to work with the private sector and in Government to develop protocols, standards and cross-Government web services rather than large IT projects, and to do that we need an environment in Government where technology leaders in the identity space can flourish.”
He added: “By placing the Identity Assurance programme within the newly-created Government Digital Service we’ll ensure that user needs will be put at the forefront of what we do based on user demand for new and existing Government digital services.”
The event was run in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) – an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
The TSB has now been running a Trusted Services programme for a number of years. Projects from the Trusted Services programme were showcased at the event. These projects are aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of innovative, secure and trustworthy information services within the UK and the wider global economy.
