Whitehall departments routinely contact corporate lobbyists about government business using text messages to slip through the net of Freedom of Information requests.
Political advisers and ministers use texts to arrange meetings that bypass the official transparency agenda, the Independent has learned.
It comes just days after ministers were warned they may have to open up their private email accounts to scrutiny to see if they have been using them to conduct government business.
That was triggered by revelations that Education Secretary Michael Gove and his closest advisers regularly discussed policy on private emails.
A former PR consultant at a major transport company who has dealings with the Department for Transport said he often used text messaging to liaise with advisers and ministers.
