Hundreds more organisations could be exposed to FoI laws, including the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Financial Ombudsman and the UCAS admissions service, the reported.

There is also a consultation to bring in other bodies, including examination boards, harbour authorities, the Local Government Association and the NHS Confederation.

The Freedom of Information Act obliges organisations to adhere to requests from members of the public to release specific information.

It allows other organisations to be designated a "public authority" which comes under FOI laws if it "appears to the secretary of state to exercise functions of a public nature" or "is providing under a contract made with a public authority any service whose provision is a function of that authority", the .

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg vowed in a speech to include "potentially hundreds more" government bodies in the Freedom of Information Act, and to "restore British freedoms".