Responses to recommendations
Barriers to accountability
1. We recommend that the Government should adopt
the twin-track approach to data release advocated by Stephan Shakespeare.
Government should 'publish early even if imperfect', as well as
being committed to a 'high quality core' (Paragraph 16)
The Cabinet Office has implemented Stephan Shakespeare's
twin track approach, although it should be noted that there are
caveats that relate to the early release of data which feed in
to Official Statistics so that they do not pre-empt publication.
Through its departmental relationship function, it works with
departments to secure the ongoing release of open data and has
used the early development of the NII to facilitate discussions
about the datasets that have been identified as being of the 'greatest
importance' and can be considered part of a 'high quality core'
for which we can develop a quality assessment framework.
The Cabinet Office recognises that there is more
work to be done on the development of the NII to ensure that it
is both usable and useful to those inside and outside Government.
The NII was designed to be an iterative tool and the Cabinet Office
has begun work on an open process to develop the next iteration.
We aim to launch this by the end of 2014.
2. We invite the Government to publish a clear
list of open data, indicating when each data series became open
in each case. (Paragraph 20)
The Government has made significant progress in publishing
datasets. Data.gov.uk is an open data catalogue of approximately
18,000 datasets, around 14,000 of which are already published.
All published dataset entries on data.gov.uk include information
about the date they were made openly available via data.gov.uk,
theme, temporal coverage and the update frequency. With the exception
of 'theme', which was a field added in October 2013, this information
has been available on data.gov.uk since it was launched. The commitments
set out in the NII narrative seeks to establish, ensure and improve
the quality of the metadata about datasets so the provenance is
clear.
Procurement and Open Data
3. We recommend that companies contracting with
the Government to provide contracted or outsourced goods and services
should be required to make all data open on the same terms as
the sponsoring department. This stipulation should be included
in a universal standard contract clause which should be introduced
and enforced across Government from the beginning of the financial
year 2015 - 16. (Paragraph 29)
The Government accepts this statement in principle
and is committed to transparency of public services that are delivered
by external providers, to ensure that accountability is not lost
when services are outsourced. We are mindful of the need to avoid
over-burdening business, particularly SMEs. We are working with
the Confederation of British Industry and other interested organisations
to agree principles for greater transparency and provide guidance
on their implementation. Building on the commitment in our OGP
National Action Plan to enhance the scope, breadth and usability
of published contractual data, our work with these interested
organisations will aim to advance our ambition and set clear standards
and expectations about publication across Government. As part
of this work provisions in the Model Services Contract, published
in January 2014, will be reviewed to ensure we are taking a more
ambitious approach towards transparency and open data in government
procurement.
The right to data?
4. The Government needs to recognise that the
public has the inherent 'right to data', like Freedom of Information.
The Government should clarify its policy and bring forward the
necessary legislation, without delay. (Paragraph 38)
The Government took
steps to recognise the public's 'right to data' through section
102 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which was
commenced on 1 September 2013 and accompanied by a Code of Practice.
Work is now also underway to transpose Directive 2013/37/EU on
the re-use of public sector information by July 2015 and widen
further the re-usability of public sector information. Consultation
and wider public engagement are planned for summer 2014; potential
legislation on the implementation of the directive that follows,
supported by tools and guidance, will be informed by the outcomes
of that consultation.
Increasing engagement
5. The Government should adopt a star-rating system
for engagement, as recommended by Involve, for measuring, and
reporting to Parliament on, Departments' progress on increasing
accountability through open data. The Government should expect
Departments to set out plans to move towards Five Star Engagement
for all their data releases. (Paragraph 56)
The Government agrees with the Committee about the
importance of public engagement with its data. To this end, data.gov.uk
already adopts the principles of the five stars of data engagement
in the following ways:
a) Be demand driven
We provide a data request process and a 'data value'
feedback mechanism to inform publication based on demand.
b) Put data in context
We provide contextual metadata for datasets and the
ability for publishers to point to further information across
the web to expand or illustrate usage of the data from within
the catalogue. We have also started to provide selected visualisations
of some key datasets.
c) Support conversation around data
We provide user commenting for each dataset in the
catalogue, as well as forums on data and blogs and actively engage,
as time and resources permits on over 18,000 datasets, in the
conversation.
d) Build capacity, skills and networks
We provide Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
to query the catalogue; forums to discuss data issues; a library
of guidance on publication, usage and data management structures;
and the data.gov.uk team are active participants and supporters
of hacks and data projects across the UK, including helping setup
other data portals at regional level.
e) Collaborate on data as a common resource
We provide users with mechanisms to discuss issues
with a given dataset (and continue to strengthen functionality
in this area) and work with the community at large to facilitate
and support the creation of services based on open data, with
a marketplace on data.gov.uk of over 300 apps using open data.
We work with other organisations to build connectivity between
data.gov.uk, its data and other data services.
In addition the Government recommends the use of
the ODI's Open Data Certificates. The ODI incorporated the engagement
rating into their certification process so there is already a
means for measuring engagement with specific datasets. The NII
commitments recommend that departments implement the adoption
of the ODI Open Data Certificates, prioritising NII datasets in
the first instance, but there is a longer term ambition for more
comprehensive application of the certificates.
The feedback process, referenced above under the
first star was designed to highlight the potential benefits of
a dataset against the five criteria described in the NII narrative.
However, there has not been a significant amount of feedback to
date. The Government can see that there is more work to be done
to increase active engagement and participation with its data
in order to gain a clearer and better understanding of the opportunities
and variety of use cases.
To that end, work is already underway to increase
awareness and engagement with open data competitions taking place
such as the Open Data Challenge Series and Ordnance Survey's GeoVation
programme. There is also a growing effort to communicate the availability
of public data to a wider audience with the recent 'Big Data -
Open/Free data available for use by businesses', organised by
the Big Innovation Centre and the Science and Technology and Facilities
Council (STFC).
Engagement with data does not fall solely on the
shoulders of the Government. We are keen to use our networks and
mobilise existing communities to bring the power of open data
to a wider audience. As more use cases come to light these can
then be used to articulate the benefits of open data back to Government.
Government is another community where open data needs to increase
its reach and it will be through highlighting the case studies
and opportunities that enables the Cabinet Office to do this.
General conclusions on accountability
6. There should be a presumption that restrictions
on Government data releases should be abolished. It may be necessary
to exempt certain datasets from this presumption, but this should
be on a case-by-case basis, to provide for such imperatives as
the preservation of national security or the protection of personal
privacy. (Paragraph 58)
The Government accepts this recommendation in principle,
with certain caveats. The UK was instrumental in the design of
the G8 Open Data Charter[1]
which has 'open data by default' as a first principle. The Charter
has been adopted by the G8 countries and the UK Government is
encouraging further adoption across OGP countries. However it
will take time to fully embed this approach. The policy and principle
are in place so it is now a question of inspiring culture and
behaviour change and being mindful of situations where open data
by default is not straightforward.
As acknowledged in PASC's recommendation, there are
important caveats to the principle of open data by default, particularly
but not exclusively relating to personal privacy and national
security. In many cases anonymisation techniques mean data can
still be released while still providing protection to the individual
citizens (e.g. crime data is grouped at the level of a few streets
to prevent victims, of, for example, domestic violence, being
identified). Additionally, the Government will always ensure that
open data releases do not breach data protection laws. Similarly
for Official Statistics there may be restrictions on the level
of data available and access to ensure that there is no disclosure
of personal or commercial information.
In addition, there are costs associated with the
release of data as an open resource and these need to be taken
into account. These may be direct in terms of the time and resources
involved in collection, collation, cleaning and publication, or
indirect in the form of lost revenue which would otherwise have
come from purchasers or licensors who would have previously paid.
Whilst charging for data is in tension with the open data objective,
we are still looking for opportunities to go further in terms
of accessibility and open release, with a particular emphasis
on core reference data. However, it does need to be recognised
that where data has traditionally been charged for, and systems
and services built upon it, the data owner will need to find an
alternative source of revenue if they relinquish that stream,
and this can pose challenges. It will always be important for
the Government to balance taxpayers' interests whilst supporting
potential economic growth.
7. The Cabinet Office must give a much higher
priority to ensuring that the most interesting and relevant data
is made open, and that the release mechanisms encourage people
to use it and, where appropriate, hold Government and local authorities
to account. Beginning in April 2014, targets should be set for
the release of totally new Government datasets - not the republishing
of existing ones. (Paragraph 59)
As stated above, the Government has released a significant
number of datasets. Over 3,000 new datasets have been published
since the publication of the NII and the Cabinet Office will be
pressing for the release of more datasets over the next 12 months.
We have received positive feedback from open data users about
the volume of data we have released but now increasingly the major
priority is to improve the quality of the data released, alongside
increasing the volume. To address this, the Cabinet Office is
already using the commitments in the NII, for instance to ensure
the quality and provenance of a dataset and design processes for
identifying new datasets, and the second principle of the G8 Open
Data Charter, 'Quality and Quantity', as well as convening a practitioners'
working group to improve data quality.
In addition, the Release of Data and Breakthrough
Funds, which provide an opportunity for public sector bodies to
bid for funding to support the release of high value data, will
help ensure that there are further levers to ensure that data
of value is released.
To ensure that the Government is releasing the data
that is wanted and needed, the data.gov.uk team have been working
to redesign the way data requests are managed. This will allow
the Cabinet Office to prioritise, manage and have complete visibility
of each data request's progress so it can ultimately be brought
to a conclusion by the ODUG. This will be a more efficient way
to refer data requests to departments, and to track communications
between the Cabinet Office and departments. Departments will have
easy access to the requests they are responsible for, offering
quick two-way communication in one system, which will ultimately
give rise to improved transparency and accountability. The new
system will be launched in the summer 2014.
Charging for data
8. A radical new approach is needed to the funding
of Government open data. Charging for some data may occasionally
be appropriate, but this should become the exception rather than
the rule. A modest part of the cost to the public of statutory
registrations should be earmarked for ensuring that the resultant
data - suitably anonymised if necessary - can become open data.
Data held by the Land Registry and car registration data held
by DVLA and, indeed, Care.data held by the NHS are among relevant
examples. (Paragraph 75)
Charging for data is already the exception rather
than the rule. The Government has adopted the principle of 'open
data by default', as described in the G8 Open Data Charter, and
the vast majority of Government data assets are or will be available
openly, and in all cases, the Government is exploring ways to
make improve the accessibility of the data.
However, there are exceptions where, as the Committee
acknowledges, charging for access is appropriate, but any changes
to those charges should be considered and judged on a case by
case basis. As discussed above against recommendation 6, there
are instances of tension between open data and organisations whose
revenue is dependent on its data and there is a need to balance
taxpayers' interests with potential medium term economic growth.
Each data holding organisation's approach needs to be considered
in the context of its own circumstance.
There are organisations who charge for the re-use
or licensing of their data, but they are able to release a subset
or all of the raw data for free. The data that is charged for
might have had some value added work done to it or consist of
the full dataset. This approach is currently taken by a range
of bodies including the Land Registry, Met Office, Ordnance Survey
and the Environment Agency.
Some organisations have statutory charges associated
with their data. In these cases, it is not possible to increase
the fee, or set aside a part of it, to cover the release of the
data as it would have taxation implications. Instead, where possible,
the Government is taking advantage of the new opportunities presented
by technological developments to change the way information is
made available, such as making data available as a by-product.
For example, Companies House is undertaking a complete overhaul
of its web services, to create an open register available to all.
There are also examples where the Government recognises
that there is significant economic potential in enabling the release
of or better access to the data. In those instances, the Government
has deemed it appropriate to compensate an organisation for the
cost of releasing that data. To this end the Government contributes
£20 million to support the release of Ordnance Survey's suite
of open data products.
The value of core reference data
9. The sale of PAF with the Royal Mail was a mistake.
The Government must never make a similar mistake. Public access
to public sector data must never be sold or given away again.
(Paragraph 89)
The Government recognises that the Postcode Address
File is an integral part of Royal Mail's operations and understands
the importance of access to the data for innovation. While ensuring
that PAF remains in Royal Mail's ownership, we have secured benefits
for data users that will open up new opportunities for growth
by increasing the number of free look ups for individuals, improving
licensing conditions for micro businesses and charities, and through
simplifying the pricing structure.
The Government notes the Committee's advice on the
ownership of public data. This will remain a key consideration
in future policy decisions about public datasets.
Ensuring fair access
10. There is concern about the attitudes of the
research councils, and academic researchers in general, to Government
data. The Government needs to make the case for giving privileged
academic access to the new Government data, when it should be
more widely available. It has, after all, been funded by taxpayers.
(Paragraph 93)
The Government's first priority is to open data;
where there are sensitivities we recognise them, for instance
around personal data, but it is often the case that a sub-set
of this kind of data may be released. In the instances where there
is greater sensitivity, the data might only be shared amongst
trusted third parties, such as the academic and research community.
However, this does not fall under the remit of the open data agenda.
The Government notes the committee's concern about
the attitudes of the research councils, and academic researchers
to Government data. In accordance with the report of the Administrative
Data Task Force, the Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN)
will help researchers carry out social and economic research of
benefit to society. There will be safeguards in place to ensure
that only accredited researchers are accessing the data for accredited
projects in safe settings. Moreover, the data accessed by researchers
will be de-identified, i.e. all personal information is removed.
The longer term potential for the business sector
to also benefit from access to such Government held data is recognised.
With all of the appropriate safeguards, future access by business
to anonymised Government held data to inform commercial decisions
and improve the effectiveness of business investments will be
considered. However, first priority for Government must be to
demonstrate the security, robustness and usefulness of such data
and to realise its potential benefits for its own policy making
purposes.
General conclusions on open data and economic
growth
11. Core data needs to be released fast, and above
all, free so that businesses can use it along with other data
to make progress. To this end the Government should in particular
pledge that the data held by GeoPlace LLP, a company owned by
Ordnance Survey and the Local Government Association, will remain
in the public ownership. (Paragraph 95)
The Government strongly agrees that data needs to
be released fast and, wherever possible, for free so that it can
support and generate opportunities for economic and social growth.
Departments are all making progress in releasing data with this
benefit in mind. In particular, the Department for Transport have
gone further than releasing their own data and have worked with
private sector providers to publish their data in an open format
which has contributed to the rise in transport applications. The
Government notes the recommendation on the ownership of GeoPlace
LLP. Any possible change of ownership would follow a full consultation.
12. Departments should be required to list all
the surveys conducted and administrative systems in operation
to allow the public to see what data might be produced, and should
provide to Parliament and the public a prompt and clear account
of all revenues from data sale. (Paragraph 96)
With regards to new datasets created as a result
of surveys, both the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and
the wider Government Statistical Service (GSS) are committed to
transparency in its data collection, and is keen to maximise the
use of all data collected and outputs produced. To help achieve
these aims a list of all surveys in operation is maintained on
the ONS website.
With regards to new administrative datasets, one
of the commitments in the NII requires departments to develop
processes to identify when new datasets are produced. The ambition
is that this activity will be broader than simply reviewing administrative
systems as it will look at a range of sources of data collection.
Departments are developing processes which meet their specific
needs and will allow them to engage with data owners in their
Arms Length Bodies.
The Government provided information on the revenue
accrued by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
(BIS) and its Trading Funds from the sale of data as part of the
Committee's evidence gathering. Data on data sales is not available
for the whole of Government as there is not consistent financial
reporting of this.
Missing opportunities to improve effectiveness
13. There is little evidence to suggest that the
Government is consistently making the most of the opportunities
to improve policy and performance via the use of its own data.
Departments need to make full use of the records and information
they possess to ensure they are running effectively. Opening up
that data to other departments will boost the Government's evidence
base and can improve policy making. The benefits of making data
open include not just an increase in openness and accountability,
but also the opportunity for outside experts to verify, and suggest
improvements in the quality and accuracy of, the data itself.
(Paragraph 103)
The Government accepts this recommendation in principle
and recognises that there are different tools and techniques to
be deployed through a range of different initiatives. 'More digital'
is a key theme of the Civil Service Reform Plan and the Civil
Service Capabilities plan. Civil servants need to be equipped
with the skills to deliver digital solutions and services. As
such, departments have been running digital skills briefings and
training sessions, targeted to their own services' needs. To complement
this, the Government Digital Service (GDS) is working across Government
to embed digital into each profession's curriculum. Digital is
also being built into leadership development programmes for senior
civil servants.
Specifically within the transparency area, departments
are realising that open data is a resource that they can use.
But there is still work to be done to gain further penetration
into different policy areas within Whitehall departments to educate
officials on the benefits and opportunities of open data.
The commitments in the NII already challenge departments
to establish processes for reviewing the use cases of their data
and the Cabinet Office is working with departments to increase
understanding within them of how open data can support policy
development. Open data training vouchers have also been made available
to public servants so they can attend formal training (with either
the ODI or the Open Knowledge Foundation).
The Government is undertaking an additional piece
of work through to the end of 2014 to look at how it can gain
better insights from its data to support policy making and operational
decisions. We will be focusing on data science approaches in demonstrator
projects, for example the Department for Communities and Local
Government's analysis of the London Fire Brigade. In doing so
we will make our work as open as possible so that others can see
what we are doing, but will approach sharing of data between departments
carefully.
Additionally there is a move towards open policy
making where organisations such as the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office are holding hackathons to facilitate innovative ideas for
digital diplomacy or to addresses issues such as ending sexual
violence in conflict. #Floodhack was the result of collaboration
between Government organisations, including the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency
and private organisations to explore digital solutions to the
flooding crisis. Within the Cabinet Office, a 'Code Club' has
been established in conjunction with Rewired State to help civil
servants develop their digital skills. These kinds of initiatives
demonstrate how the civil service is adopting new techniques to
address a broader range of issues and are showcased in Civil Service
Quarterly.
14. The Cabinet Office should be much more active
in ensuring Departments maximise the social and economic potential
of open data, not least in increasing their own efficiency and
effectiveness. To this end it should:
a) require Departments to produce, by the
end of 2014, a detailed and timetabled plan for using their data
to enhance performance,
b) ensure that the data which is used to underpin
policy work in all public announcements is published alongside
the policy statements, and
c) bring an end by January 2015 to the outdated
and wasteful practice whereby Departments have to pay for access
to data that has been produced by Government itself. (Paragraph
104)
The Government agrees that departments should seek
to maximise the social and economic potential of open data. Whilst
the Cabinet Office is already working to encourage departments
to become consumers of data there is more to be done to further
the reach, knowledge and understanding in each department.
a) The Cabinet Office has been encouraging departments
to consider the use cases, internal and external, as part of the
NII commitments and through their open data strategies. The Cabinet
Office is administering the Release of Data Fund training voucher
project to increase the skills, knowledge and understanding of
open data amongst civil servants so that they not only release
high quality data but become consumers of it too.
Open data is one facet of the information that departments
have access to. As a whole, Government owns a significant amount
of data (which is not necessarily open) and it needs to use this
as well as all the other types of data it holds.
b) Data that is used to inform and underpin policy
work may not be available in open formats. Where it is, the Cabinet
Office will actively encourage departments to publish it. The
Minister for the Cabinet Office commissioned the policy profession
to undertake a piece of work to promote the publication of the
data underpinning policy development. The Cabinet Office will
consider whether stronger mechanisms are required to enforce this.
c) It is a principle of Government that different
organisations within the public sector are able to charge each
other for their goods and services where appropriate. This principle
manifests around data on those occasions where the production
of the data in question has associated costs that need to be recovered.
As Managing Public Money (MPM) sets out: "Charging can thus
help prevent waste through badly targeted consumption. It can
also make comparisons with private sector services easier, promote
competition, develop markets and generally promote financially
sound behaviour in the public sector." The Public Sector
Mapping Agreement (PSMA) is one example of the principle in practice
and, as MPM suggests, has created an important dynamic for both
identifying the geospatial needs of the public sector and supporting
the data and associated services continuous improvement.
The role of statisticians
15. Many civil and public servants lack the skills
to interpret data properly and some civil servants do not seem
to share the Government's desire for openness. While bearing fully
in mind the needs of national security and personal privacy, civil
servants need to be much more aware of the presumption to publish.
They should stop being gatekeepers, guarding government data,
and become enablers encouraging its wider use; key to this will
be the development of a wider understanding of data issues among
policy staff. (Paragraph 116)
The Government agrees with the Committee's observation
that civil servants need to be much more aware of the presumption
to publish but would argue that although there is a skills shortage
(across all sectors), there has also been some excellent progress
made on publication by civil and public servants.
Transparency and open data is still a young policy
area and requires a culture shift across the public sector (and
will do across the private sector as well). Whilst there is still
a need to increase knowledge and understanding of the agenda across
the sector, there is also a growing network of reformers and innovators
who understand the data and are keen to use it and see it used.
As this network grows and as more public sector workers are trained
in open data, there will be an increase in those who can be considered
'enablers' and we will start to see a culture shift in Government.
Government statisticians developed online learning
on transparency and open data which has been well received by
all civil servants, not just those in the statistical community.
The Government is also looking at capability in the data science
programme. Primarily the focus will be on the skills of analysts,
but we will also be working with the range of Government professions
including policy makers to raise awareness.
16. Government statisticians have the skills to
do much more with Government data, for example, through producing
new series of statistics. But statisticians have chosen to adopt
a low profile when they need to be more active in producing new
datasets and collaborating with their colleagues in other Civil
Service professions to bring more sense and usability to open
data initiatives. Government statisticians should become champions
of open data. (Paragraph 117)
The importance of data is becoming increasingly evident
and the work done by those who analyse, assess and use data is
extremely valuable.
The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) remains very supportive
of initiatives to further open data. The Code of Practice for
Official Statistics requires that statistics should be made available
in 'as much detail as is reliable and practicable, subject to
legal and confidentiality constraints', constraints which protect
against the disclosure of personal information as proscribed by
legislation. Normally the UKSA expects all data underlying official
statistics to be published where this is practicable and does
not put confidentiality at risk. Judgements about utility and
reliability are best left to users, as long as they are fully
informed of the strengths and weaknesses of the data.
At this stage, the open data agenda is not about
creating new data but publishing what we already have that is
not currently accessible. There may be a point in the future where
we address the question of what additional data is needed but
there are other activities which need to be prioritised first,
for instance, ensuring we have a fully comprehensive inventory
of data assets.
17. A second 'five star' rating system, developed
by Full Fact for assessing the usability of Government statistics,
would support the efforts of statisticians to play a more active
role in open data. This system should also be adopted by CO in
assessing departmental progress on open data. (Paragraph 118)
The Government recognises that a system to assess
data quality in standardised way is desirable and forms part of
a wider data management approach, but any method adopted needs
to be applicable to the variety of data collected by Government.
The Cabinet Office will continue to explore data quality metrics
(such as the ODI Open Data Certificates) and work with departments
and users to ascertain the best fit method. It may be that a variety
of metrics have to be used depending on the type of data (the
quality assessment of a geographical dataset or map is, for example,
rather different from survey data or financial data).
The statistical community has yet to take a clear
view on the value of the 5* scale. For statisticians disseminating
statistics the priority is that they should meet user needs. Since
there are often a number of different users for any given set
of statistics, it is sometimes not the case that any given presentation
will meet the needs of all users and potential users. Having
said that, the Full Fact scale covers many of the points that
would assess our dissemination of statistics against, and so there
is merit in considering that scale as one of the tools for assessing
whether or not the presentation of statistics meets user need.
18. We recommend that the Government should bring
forward a practical timetable for training data scientists, with
target numbers, to be announced before the end of July 2014. The
Government should also include data skills and open data awareness
sessions in the training of the policy profession in the Civil
Service. (Paragraph 119)
The Government accepts that there is a need to train
more data scientists. As stated above, we are undertaking a piece
of work on data science in Government and the skills needed. Early
work has started on examining the capability in the analytical
community and we will explore this further during the course of
the year and will consider the recommendations of the Committee
as we draw up our plan.
Who is responsible for making the Government's
open data plans work?
19. To overcome departmental apathy and resistance,
open data needs to be treated as a major Government programme
in its own right, which will only bring substantial benefits if
it is subject to active leadership and management by Ministers
and officials. The Minister for the Cabinet Office should be given
explicit responsibility for all aspects of open data policy, including
the commercial aspects. We believe that Civil Service accountability
for progress needs to be much clearer, and that the Cabinet Secretary
should be given the overall responsibility for pushing open data
through Whitehall and beyond. A single Senior Responsible Owner
should be appointed at Deputy Secretary level in the Cabinet Office,
to be directly and personally responsible for delivering the benefits
in the open data strategy. The Public Sector Transparency Board
is too large to be effective in driving progress. A small group
from that Board should work as a Programme Implementation Board.
(Paragraph 142)
The pan-Government transparency and open data agenda
is led by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and implemented
by a central team in the Cabinet Office. The Minister for the
Cabinet Office has responsibility for the open data agenda. The
Director of Open Data and Government Innovation is the Senior
Responsible Owner (SRO) for the programme and has a seat at the
Cabinet Office Board, the Public Sector Transparency Board and
is the Department's Digital Leader. Centrally, the policy has
broad top level support; the Cabinet Secretary is a strong proponent
for it and the Prime Minister has highlighted the importance of
this agenda on a number of occasions.
Whilst there will always be a need for central leadership
of the agenda, its growth will be reliant on the adoption within
departments. Each department has a role to play in developing
the transparency and open data agenda. There is a strong network
of transparency practitioners across Whitehall and the Government
is keen to ensure that this is complemented by a SRO in each department.
In addition, other cross-Government networks, such as the Digital
Leaders, will be used as appropriate. Equally, over the last 12
months, we have seen additional boards being established to provide
departmental governance for the agenda, for instance within the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Cabinet Office.
The Government is keen that, where appropriate, departments take
a strong lead in developing the agenda to ensure the greatest
level of buy in.
BIS also plays a key role as it not only holds a
very wide range of datasets through the specific roles of its
partner organisations - from biomedical research to company data
to higher education statistics - but also leads on the digital
economy. It has published the Information Economy Strategy and
Seizing the Data Opportunity - a strategy for UK data capability.
Both documents set out the importance of building UK capability
to be able to use data intelligently to provide insight and value.
BIS recently published an update[2]
on its engagement with the open data
agenda.
The Committee recommend that the transparency and
open data agenda be treated as a major programme for Government.
The Cabinet Office has made a conscious decision to not adopt
the traditional programme governance approach but rather to focus
on getting the data into the public's hands without undue bureaucracy
and allowing a more agile action driven approach. The Government
has seized the opportunities offered by the momentum behind the
open data movement to make tangible progress, for instance in
establishing the ODI and securing the release of key datasets.
At the same time steps have been taken to drive culture change
across Whitehall through the various commitments and communicating
the value and opportunities of open data. The Government will
continue the push to embed an open data culture using the appropriate
skills and techniques.
The Government disagrees that that Public Sector
Transparency Board is too large to be effective. One of the recommendations
from the Shakespeare Review was to simplify the governance arrangements
for the transparency and open data agenda. In June 2013 the Data
Strategy Board and the Public Sector Transparency Board were merged
into a single unified board chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet
Office. The Public Sector Transparency Board now provides advice,
guidance and challenge to Government. Its membership includes
open data activists and experts as well as users. There is further
ministerial representation from the Cabinet Office, BIS and the
Ministry of Justice.
20. The Government should, by the end of June
2014, submit to the Committee a detailed report on progress on
the actions related to open data. This should include a list of
all plans and actions from recent relevant documents, reports
and committees on open data, including but not limited to the
Open Government Partnership Action Plan and the National Information
Infrastructure. The Cabinet Office should report to Parliament
at least every six months with a consolidated list of actions.
(Paragraph 143)
The Government does not accept the recommendation
to report to Parliament every six months on the basis that there
are already reporting mechanisms in place, via the Quarterly Written
Ministerial Statement (which will now incorporate progress statements
on the NII) and the OGP. However, the Government may explore a
means of consolidated reporting. The next Quarterly Written Ministerial
Statement is due to be laid in July 2014.
In July 2014, the Government published progress updates[3]
on the National Action Plan, the Open
Data Charter, commitments in the Government Response to the Shakespeare
Review and the NII.
1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-data-charter/g8-open-data-charter-and-technical-annex Back
2
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-open-data-strategy-2014-to-2016 Back
3
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transparency-and-open-data-progress-against-commitments
Back
| 
