Mid-term self-assessment: UK National Action Plan 2013-15
The mid-term self assessment looks at the government’s progress 15 months into the 2013-15 action plan.
“Prime Minister David Cameron launched the second UK Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan (NAP) at the OGP summit in London on 31 October 2013. In doing so he credited the OGP, “a truly exciting institution”, with “helping to drive this transparency revolution around the world”. He made clear that the priority in the UK was to practice what we preach, in order to enact real change.
In the UK we see this as the absolute heart of the OGP – it empowers domestic reformers, both in and outside government, to make concrete commitments to greater openness. Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, is responsible for this work across government and has often declared that “transparency is an idea whose time has come”. Through the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) OGP provides the independent means by which to assess whether governments fulfil their commitments.
Our NAP sets out our vision for a more open government where the public:
- understands the workings of their government (‘transparency’);
- can hold the government to account for its policy and service delivery performance, and inform choice of public services (‘accountability’); and
- can influence the workings of their government and society by engaging with policy processes and service delivery programs (‘participation’).
This self-assessment looks at progress 15 months into implementation of this two- year plan and reflects on our experiences of developing and implementing the NAP. The final section sets out where we see our priorities over the next few months and how we will develop the UK’s next NAP to ensure we continue to achieve our ambition to be the most open and transparent government in the world.
To help inform this self-assessment we have consulted both government and civil society commitment leads, as well as seeking views from civil society organisations (CSOs) not as actively involved. The headline results of an online survey, completed by 23 respondents, are published at annex A.
A draft version of this self-assessment was published for consultation from 10 to 23 March 2015. Two responses were received and we will work with the respondents to take their comments on board as we continue implementation of this NAP and look forward to the development of our next NAP.”