United Kingdom Results Report 2021-2023

The United Kingdom (UK)’s fifth action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... led to significant early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... in public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More with the adoption of the Procurement Act 2023. It also led to moderate early results in open justiceAn open, independent, and impartial justice system serves as a foundation for better access to justice by fulfilling all people’s civil liberties and allowing individuals to more effectively protect..., particularly remote observations of court hearings and digitisation of court services. Government-civil society cooperation improved compared to the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive..., reinvigorating the UK’s action plan process.

Early Results

The UK’s fifth action plan had eight commitments. For purposes of review, the IRM separated CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 4 into two commitments, changing the total number of commitments to nine. The action plan built on previous commitments in open contractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C..., health sector transparency, international illicit finance, official development assistance (ODA) transparency and freedom of information. It also pursued new areas of open justiceTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi..., algorithmic transparency, and diversity and inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr.... Three commitments (ODA transparency, diversity and inclusion, and freedom of information) were added as amendments during the implementation period.

For Commitment 1, the Parliament passed the Procurement Act 2023. The Act will significantly improve the transparency of the UK’s public procurement practices when it comes into effect. The commitment also led to drafting secondary legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... to support the Act, and a robust educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... programme on the Act. Commitment 2, while not evaluated as promising in the IRM Action Plan Review (APR), improved the digitisation of court services and access to remote court hearings. This commitment was supported by passing primary legislation to facilitate and expand public access to remote hearings, although the legislation was not part of the commitment in the action plan.

Civil society welcomed the addition of the three commitments to the amended action plan. Under Commitment 6, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office resumed its monthly data publication on expenditures. This commitment was carried over into the sixth action plan (2023-2025). Commitments 7 and 8 led to the establishment of working groups to promote diversity and inclusion in the UK’s OGP action plans and to strengthen freedom of information, respectively. However, these working groups did not lead to new commitments on these policy areas in the sixth action plan.

CompletionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin...

The UK completed all the commitments either fully or substantially. For Commitment 4.1, the Department of Health and Social Care did not deliver the planned ‘data pact’ during the action plan period. The data pact would5 have set out how the National Health Service (NHS) uses social care data and what the public has the right to expect. For Commitment 4.2, the report on approved clinical trials and registration details was published in March 2024, after the implementation period. Although steps were taken towards wider participation in the development of the UK’s OGP action plans, these actions did not fully align with the milestones of Commitment 7.

Participation and Co-Creation

The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), part of the Cabinet Office, coordinated the UK’s fifth action plan, alongside the UK Open Government Civil Society Network (UK OGN) through the UK Multi-Stakeholder Forum for Open Government (MSF). The CDDO is in the process of moving from the Cabinet Office to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).[1] The ongoing work to design the digital centre of government within DSIT will assess the suitability of the current arrangement and make recommendations for the future responsibility for the delivery of the principles of open government and the national action plan. The UK MSF is routinely co-chaired by civil servants from CDDO and the chair of the UK OGN, and membership includes civil servants, members of the steering committee of the UK OGN, and civil society subject matter specialists or network leaders.[2]

The co-creation of the fifth action plan saw varying levels of engagement across the proposed topic areas. A lack of consensus in some thematic working groups compromised the clarity of the commitments, especially in new areas like open justice.^[3] By the end of the implementation period, the relationship between civil society and the government improved. After a change in leadership in the Cabinet Office during the implementation period, the levels of collaboration in the monitoring of the action plans improved.^[4] This helped restore trust in the aciton plan process among the UK OGN.^[5] These improvements to the process and the civil-society government relationship were important after OGP’s Criteria & Standards (C&S) Subcommittee placed the UK under Procedural Review in February 2021.^[6]

Implementation in Context

The beginning of the implementation period saw frequent changes in ministers and senior reporting lines in departments.^[7] Consequently, at the beginning of the implementation period, civil society stakeholders were not always aware of the status of the commitments. However, the new PoC and their team re-established government-civil society dialogue and improved the monitoring and implementation of commitments.[8] A government representative suggested that extending the UK’s action plan cycles to four years could provide better continuity and flexibility in case of political transitions.

[1] UK Government, DSIT bolstered to better serve the British public through science and technology, 8 July 2024, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dsit-bolstered-to-better-serve-the-british-public-through-science-and-technology

[2] Kevin Keith (OGN Chair), interview by the IRM, 28 June 2024.

[3] Kevin Keith (OGN Chair), interview by the IRM, 28 June 2024.

[4] Matthew Donnelly and Ben Gittins (Cabinet Office), interview by the IRM, 26 June 2024. Kevin Keith (OGN Chair), interview by the IRM, 28 June 2024.

[5] Kevin Keith (OGN Chair), interview by the IRM, 28 June 2024.

[6] Open Government Partnership, UK Procedural Review, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/UK-Procedural-Review-Resolution-December-2022-CS-approved-Dec-20-2022.pdf

[7] Matthew Donnelly and Ben Gittins (Cabinet Office), interview by the IRM, 26 June 2024.

[8] Kevin Keith (OGN Chair), interview by the IRM, 28 June 2024.