News 12th April 2018

Commitments Ideas for the 2018-20 NI Open Government Action Plan

by Connor McLean

We crowdsourced ideas for OG commitments for the 2018-20 Open Government National Action Plan and presented them to government officials before Easter.

Commitment ideas included:

  • Introduce a register of lobbyists
  • Open Ministerial diaries
  • Ensure the open and timely publication of government research and introduce a standardised public register of all commissioned studies.
  • Create a Citizens’ Budget
  • Unlock and maximise the value of all NI government data linked to location.
  • Create an Open Government Charter for Local Government Authorities
  • Improve Record-keeping for Good Governance
  • Map the Sustainable Development Goals against NI Programme for Government
  • Introduce citizen centric data usage reports
  • Formally adopt The Declaration of Parliamentary Openness
  • Open up the Assembly so more people can contribute and increase citizen involvement in the legislative process
  • Develop Open Government Skills across the Public Sector
  • Improve consultation practice – Develop process and tools for more effective consultation practices.
  • Trial deliberative citizen engagement methods
  • Run a PB pilot with a government department and capture and share the learning across government
  • Undertake research into options for improving environmental governance in NI, including potential for an independent environmental protection agency
  • Ensure the integrity, usability and sustainability of government information
  • Commit to the reintroduction of two compendia of official statistical publications – ‘A profile of older people in Northern Ireland’ and ‘Gender Equality Statistics’ annual publications.
  • Introduce retrospective transparency on donations to NI political parties
  • Disclose information on what decisions senior NI civil servants are legally and constitutionally allowed and expected to make in the absence of Executive Ministers
  • Implement Civil Service Guidelines on record keeping for good governance

The ideas presented will be considered at the NI Civil Service Board meeting in May.

A full list of ideas can be found here.