UK Open Government Network > Help shape the 7th National Action Plan for Open Government

Help shape the 7th National Action Plan for Open Government

Help shape the UK’s next open government commitments

Every few years, government and civil society work together to develop a National Action Plan for Open Government: a set of practical reforms designed to make government more open, accountable and responsive.

The forthcoming plan will be the UK’s seventh. The government has now opened a public call for ideas, giving people and organisations outside of government an opportunity to help shape what it should include. and the government has opened a call for ideas.

Deadline: 5pm on Monday 25 May 2026

What is the Call for Evidence?

The Call for Evidence is your opportunity to help shape the UK’s Seventh National Action Plan for Open Government (NAP7).

It is coordinated by the Civil Service Strategy Unit within the Cabinet Office and is open to anyone – including charities, community groups, businesses, academics, campaigners, researchers and members of the public.

You do not need to submit a fully developed policy proposal. At this stage, the government is looking for short ideas – around 250 words – that identify areas where government, civil society and others could work together to improve transparency, accountability and public participation.

What areas does it cover?

Open government reforms can cover a wide range of issues. They typically, though not exclusively, include the areas set out in the Open Government Guide, such as:

  • anti-corruption and integrity – including lobbying, political finance, beneficial ownership, asset disclosure and open contracting;
  • civic space and democratic freedoms – including freedom of expression, association, assembly and media freedom;
  • climate and environmental governance – including climate finance, environmental democracy, open climate data and the energy transition;
  • defence, security and resilience – including defence procurement, oversight and responses to hybrid threats;
  • digital governance – including AI, algorithms, automated decision-making, misinformation, disinformation and information integrity;
  • fiscal openness – including open budgets, public debt transparency and public participation in spending decisions;
  • gender, inclusion and participation – including open gender data, youth engagement and inclusive policymaking;
  • justice and accountability – including access to justice, open justice data and public feedback on justice systems; and
  • open government foundations – including the right to information, parliamentary oversight, open election data, participation, depolarisation and social cohesion.

Other areas could also make strong contributions, including housing, local government, public service reform, data transparency, democratic participation and community power.

Why does it matter?

Open government is about more than publishing information. It is about enabling people to understand how decisions are made, influence those decisions, scrutinise public power and hold institutions to account.

National Action Plans are a major way for those outside of government to work with those inside government to achieve this.

Ideas taken forward in previous National Action Plans have helped:

  • improve value for taxpayers by increasing transparency, competition and scrutiny over how public money is spent; 
  • make the government’s use of algorithms more transparent, so people can better understand and challenge decisions that affect their lives; and
  • make company ownership more transparent, helping crack down on dirty money and hidden ownership, and supporting the wider response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The government has linked this call to the new Civil Society Covenant, signalling that it sees this as part of a broader commitment to working with civil society on public reform.

How to submit

Submit via the GOV.UK online form here: gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/seventh-uk-national-action-plan-for-open-government-call-for-evidence

Each idea should be around 250 words, focused on a single theme or topic. You can submit multiple ideas by filling in the form more than once.

Your submission should identify a problem or opportunity related to transparency, accountability or participation in government. You can also indicate whether you or your organisation would be interested in contributing to co-creation if the idea is taken forward.

Submissions will be assessed against three broad criteria:

  • Relevance – does the idea relate to transparency, accountability or public participation?
  • Ambition – would it go beyond current practice?
  • Co-creation potential – is there scope for government and civil society to develop it together?

What happens next?

Submissions will be analysed and the results presented to the UK Multi-Stakeholder Forum for Open Government, which brings together government and civil society to decide which themes proceed to co-creation.

Co-creation of individual commitments is expected from June 2026, with finalised commitments due by end of 2026. If you indicate interest, you may be contacted about contributing further.

Want help writing a submission?

You can use the following resources:

  • Slides from the recent information sessions here.
  • A video of the information session is here.
  • The How-To guide is here.