Department for Communities and Local Government

• Corporate
• Transparency in government
• DCLG Public Data and Transparency Programme Board

www.communities.gov.uk

DCLG Public Data and Transparency Programme Board

The DCLG Board Executive is committed to establishing the department as an exemplar of transparency within Government. It has set itself ambitious objectives to become an open organisation which encourages scrutiny of its decisions by others, and actively seeks to gain new insights into issues that can help to improve the places people live.

We have made an impressive start. We have gone beyond the commitments set out in the Prime Minister's letter of 31 May 2010, in particular by publishing spend over £500 and spend on the Government Procurement Card. We are the second largest contributor of data to the Government's central repository of data after the Department of Health.

The task now is to embed transparency into the way we work at all levels within the Department by publishing the information that people want to further knowledge and debate of our policies.

The DCLG Public Data and Transparency Programme Board will be a task and finish group, existing until the end of 2012, to position DCLG as an exemplar by embedding a culture of change across the Department.

The Board will develop strong relationships with staff across the Department and have close links to the Cabinet Office, which leads on transparency across Government, and the Local Public Data Panel which advises DCLG on public data principles.

Local Public Data Panel

The Department supports the Local Public Data Panel (external link) which is chaired by Professor Nigel Shadbolt.

It was established to:

• champion the release of local public data
• champion information sharing
• accelerate progress in agreeing common standards for releasing data
• make local public services better understood and more accessible.

The Panel aims to:

• ensure understanding of the case for making local public data freely available for re-use
• promote innovative uses of local public data
• sponsor the further development of a single place on line at data.gov.uk (external link) for all public sector data, while meeting the specific needs of the local government sector
• encourage agreed standards for greater data and information sharing by local strategic partnerships.

The Panel operates a blog at data.gov.uk/blog (external link) where you can view activity and read the minutes of their meetings.

Making a Difference with Data

The Making a Difference with Data (external link) initiative aims to raise awareness about how you can access data from local public services such as local authorities, the police and the NHS. You can use it to raise issues, campaign, and influence decision-making in your local community. The initiative brings together stories and examples showing how local information and data is being used to make a difference in key areas. The initiative is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in partnership with Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM) and is supported by the Local Public Data Panel.

Videos, slides and other material from the 'Making a Difference with Data policy briefing' event held at DCLG on 18 March 2011 is available on their website (see link right).

Details of the 'Can open data improve public policy making?' events held on 15 and 17 June can be found on their website (see link right).