1 Successive governments have promoted transparency by developing legislation and routinely releasing more information to the public. The transparency agenda is a pledge by the Coalition Government to make government more open. The policy commitment has been taken forward through three major announcements. The first two were communicated through prime ministerial letters to government departments in May 2010 and Secretaries of State in July 2011. Additional commitments were announced as part of the Chancellor's Autumn Statement 2011, in November 2011. Initial data releases related primarily to accountability for use of resources, with later announcements designed to support service improvement and economic growth. The Government's objectives for transparency are to:
• strengthen public accountability;
• support public service improvement by generating more comparative data and increasing user choice; and
• stimulate wider economic growth by helping third parties to develop products and services based on public sector information.
2 Good quality information is crucial to effective management. Public disclosure of that information has the potential to improve accountability and support public service improvement and economic growth. Gaining value from information, however, requires its scope, quality and presentation to be matched to the purposes and circumstances of its use. This report reviews early implementation of the transparency initiatives set out in the prime ministerial letters, and considers arrangements in place to judge value for money, to establish key lessons that the Government should address:
• Part One introduces the background and sets out how transparency is governed.
• Part Two considers the progress of implementation to date.
• Part Three reviews how transparency aligns with choice and accountability.
• Part Four considers the economic growth potential of transparency.