Shape the UK’s 2018-20 Open Government Action Plan

2018

The Open Government Civil Society Network (OGN) will organise and conduct workshops up and down the country to collect ideas from the public that identify where open government can solve key problem areas – at local and national level. Participants will also explore their proposals on how to solve those problems using open government. Proposals and ideas will be uploaded online where further discussion can also take place.

The networks in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will also hold similar events that will feed into the process, as well as produce their own devolved commitments. Events in Scotland will also channel ideas into its own action plan as part of the OGP Subnational Government Pilot programme.

After the workshops, the open government network will prioritise what was identified, developing these into a list of civil society proposals on open government. Civil society organisations who endorse and want to work on these issues will be invited to be lead organisations who follow through with the commitment over two years if it enters the final open government national action plan.

The OGN published its Open Government Civil Society Manifesto 2018 on 1 June 2018, which brought together all the ideas and proposals for open government under four overarching themes: https://www.opengovernment.org.uk/resource/uk-ogn-manifesto-2018/

The Steering Committee of the Open Government Network will bring its key proposals into discussions with government officials to develop an action plan on open government in the UK. Whilst some demands may already match government ideas about what to put into the action plan, others will need further discussion. Some may not make it into the plan. Where possible, discussions may include specific civil society organisations and government departments who would lead certain commitments.

The OGN and Government will hold two Multistakeholder Forum meetings over the course of the development of the action plan. The first meeting was held on 9 May 2018. You can read more about what was discussed, here: https://www.opengovernment.org.uk/2018/05/11/how-government-and-civil-society-is-collaborating-to-drive-openness-gila-sacks/

The second Multistakeholder Forum was held on 11 June 2018. You can read more about what was discussed, here: https://www.opengovernment.org.uk/2018/06/19/the-uk-needs-ambitious-open-government-commitments-for-challenging-times-tim-hughes/

After the summer, the draft action plan text will be presented to the public for consultation. The comments from the consultation will be reviewed and will inform the development of the commitments in the action plan. The public consultation will be open for one month.

By the end of this process, the final text will be agreed upon between the Open Government Network and government officials.

Letter from DCMS and MOJ about a commitment to Open Justice in the Open Government National Action Plan 2018-20

2019

OGN sends letter to DCMS about the delay to finalising the UK Open Government Action Plan

UK Government reply to OGN Letter on delay to finalising the UK Open Government Action Plan

OGN sends another letter to DCMS about the ongoing delay to finalising the UK Open Government Action Plan in the run up to the OGP Global Summit in Ottawa, Canada

The UK OGN receives the following letter from DCMS commiting to publishing the action plan before the start of the Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Ottawa, Canada.

The UK National Action Plan for Open Government 2019-21 is published on the morning of 28 May. The Opening Ceremony of the OGP Global Summit begins on 28 May in the evening.

The UK OGN publishes the following statement calling for UK Government “to fully deliver all eight commitments in the 2019-21 Open Government National Action Plan, set out a high-level political commitment to open government reform moving forward, and work closely with civil society to make UK Government and institutions more open, transparent, participatory and accountable.”