2016-18 UK Open Government Action Plan: Commitment from the Scottish Government
As part of developing the 2016-18 UK Open Government Action Plan, the UK OGN worked with representatives from the Devolved Administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to bring them into the process. With the support of the OGN, civil society in each of the devolved nations established their own Open Government Networks to engage with their governments on their commitments. Below you will find the commitment submitted from the Scottish Government, originally published here.
Commitment from the Scottish Government
2. Effective Open Government for governments at all levels
2.1 Developing Effective Open Government for governments at all levels, through the outputs from one or more summit discussions
Main objective
To share learning across the UK in order to establish the effective governance for Open Government commitments – through collaborative dialogue between governments, civil society and experts
Status quo
In reviewing the first five years of Open Government Partnership a number of important themes emerged. Including the need to bring in new political leadership and open government innovations from all levels of government; to ensure that OGP commitments provide real improvement in people’s lives. They also identified that only 2% of commitments worldwide are aimed at health or education or climate change.
Scotland is one of 15 Pioneer governments at various levels worldwide who are developing action plans and working with OGP to consider these questions.
Scotland will lead a collaborative discussion within the UK with governments, civil society and experts to identify how best to support the spread of Open Government.
The changing nature of democracy and varying levels of devolution in United Kingdom make it an ideal testing ground for beginning to develop a robust framework which enables OGP Action Plans to be developed at the level that is most effective for the people they serve. This will mean they are able to tackle some of the most significant societal issues in ways which will support the delivery of the sustainable development goals by 2030.
Ambition
The result will be a draft framework to set out how OGP, governments and civil society can ensure that commitments are ‘owned’ at the level of government best able to deliver improvements while maintaining the core values and effective partnership with civil society.
Lead implementing organisation
Scottish Government
Timeline
Spring 2017 – December 2017
OGP values
Technology and innovation
New or ongoing commitment
New
Other actors involved – government
Governments of Wales, Northern Ireland and Cabinet Office for UK
Other actors involved – CSOs, private sector, working groups, multilaterals
Open Government Partnership OGP Civil Society Networks from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and UK
| Verifiable and measurable milestones to fulfil the commitment | New or ongoing commitment | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| One or more summit meetings between governments, civil society, OGP and experts to explore the issues collaboratively | New | Spring 2017 | Draft Framework in place December 2017 |