Following the Public Pound: A Four-Step FOI Route to Council Contract Ledgers

When a council says it has 'outsourced' a service, the public pound does not disappear. It travels through a contract. It may pass to a large company, then to a subcontractor, then to a temporary staffing agency. The council remains responsible for the service, but the paper trail can be thin. Freedom of Information requests are one way to follow that trail.

Step 1: Read the published register first

Most councils publish a contracts register under the Local Government Transparency Code. The register usually lists contracts above a threshold, often £5,000, with the supplier, value, start and end dates, and the responsible department. Start there. Download the register, sort it by value, and note the services that matter most to your area: waste collection, adult social care, housing repairs, school transport, leisure centres, and IT.

Look for gaps. Does the register include company numbers? Does it name subcontractors? Does it show whether a contract was tendered, extended, or varied? Does it record the approving officer or committee? A register that lists only the prime contractor is not a full account of who delivers the service. It is a starting point for questions.

Step 2: Send a focused FOI request

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives a right of access to recorded information held by public authorities, including councils. A good request is specific, dated, and asks for data in a reusable format. The template below can be adapted to your council and the services you are scrutinising.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following for contracts active between [date] and [date] with a value above £5,000:

1. A copy of the contract register in spreadsheet form, including contract ID, title, supplier name, company number, start and end dates, original value, current value, tender route, and any extension options.
2. For each contract, the name of any known subcontractor and the value or proportion of the contract subcontracted.
3. Any declaration of interest or conflict-of-interest record relating to the award, extension or variation of each contract.
4. The most recent performance review or key performance indicator report for each contract.
5. The name of the officer or committee that approved any direct award, extension or variation, and the legal or procurement justification.

If any information is withheld under section 43 (commercial interests) or another exemption, please identify the exemption and explain the public interest test applied.

Keep the request within a reasonable scope. If you ask for every contract over ten years, the council may refuse on cost grounds. If you ask for one service area or one financial year, you are more likely to get a useful response within the 20-working-day limit.

Step 3: Read the response like an auditor

A contract register is not proof of wrongdoing. It is a map of risk. The following red flags are worth checking, not assuming.

• A contract extended repeatedly without a new tender.
• A direct award with a thin or missing justification.
• A supplier whose parent company is registered offshore or whose ownership is unclear.
• A subcontractor chain that the council cannot describe.
• A contract value that has grown well beyond the original estimate without a recorded variation.
• The same supplier winning several unrelated contracts in one council.
• A declaration of interest that is missing for a councillor or officer involved in the award.
• Performance reports that are absent, late, or contain no measurable indicators.

Cross-check supplier names against Companies House. Look at directors, registered addresses, and filing history. Compare the register with the council's spending data, which often lists payments to suppliers. If a company appears in spending data but not in the contracts register, ask why. If a contract is listed but no payments appear, ask whether it was delivered.

Step 4: Turn the file into an accountability campaign

A spreadsheet on its own changes little. The next step is to translate it into a short public brief. Pick three findings, not thirty. For each, state what the register shows, what the council says, and what question remains unanswered. Send the brief to your ward councillors, the scrutiny committee, and the local press. Ask for a specific response: a committee report, a contract review, or a commitment to publish subcontractor data.

If the council withholds information, ask for an internal review. If the public interest in transparency is strong, say so. Commercial confidentiality can be legitimate, but it should not be used to hide the identity of a company delivering a public service or the existence of a conflict-of-interest declaration. The public interest test is not a formality; it requires the council to weigh openness against harm.

Finally, campaign for better registers. Ask your council to publish contract identifiers, company numbers, subcontractor names, variation histories, and performance summaries in one place. Ask that declarations of interest be linked to contracts. Ask that the register be updated quarterly. These are not radical demands. They are the minimum needed for residents to follow the public pound.

The contract book is not a secret document. It is a public record that is often incomplete. FOI is the tool that fills the gaps. Used carefully, it can turn a routine procurement question into a local campaign for real accountability.