1.1 Successive governments have promoted more transparency of public sector information. This has involved developing legislation, for example on freedom of information, and releasing more public sector information. Transparency is a key component of the current Government's public services reform programme. The benefits it expects to achieve include:
• helping the public to hold public bodies to account;
• improving value for money of public services; and
• realising economic benefits by helping third parties to develop applications and services from public data.1