UK Open Government National Action Plan 2016 to 2018: Welsh Government mid-term self-assessment report

The 3rd UK Open Government National Action Plan was published in May 2016. The plan set out commitments to open government in the UK and the ambitions of the UK government for the next 2 years. In December 2016 commitments from each of the devolved administrations were published in an update to the UK National Action Plan.

As part of the 2-year National Action Plan cycle, governments are required to produce midterm and end-of-term self-assessment reports. This report provides a self-assessment of progress made to date.

Process summary

The Office of the Chief Digital Officer was responsible for coordinating the development of and the ongoing monitoring of Welsh Government commitments within the third UK National Action Plan. Officials liaised closely with colleagues from UK Cabinet Office and the other devolved administrations during the development of the commitments, sharing knowledge and best practice. It is planned that this working arrangement will continue for both the monitoring of existing commitments and the development of future commitments.

When developing the existing commitments there was no existing civil society network within Wales. However a number of the commitments were developed with input from external organisations, including civil society. Following publication of the commitments Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and Electoral Reform Society Cymru (ERS Cymru) were successful in securing funding enabling them to establish a civil society network within Wales.

Implementation of commitments

Although the Welsh Government commitments have only been included since December 2016, good progress has been made. The majority of commitments are on track to be completed within their specified timeframes, with 3 of the 9 commitments already completed. These are:

Government Social Research Publication Protocol

Welsh Government will continue to publish government research according to the Government Social Research Publication Protocol, with reports pre-announced and published on the ‘Statistics & Research’ pages of the Welsh Government website. Publication of social research reports, according to the GSR publication protocol, is a key part of the Welsh Government Principles for Research and Evaluation.

Code of Practice for Ethical Employment in Supply Chains

Welsh Government will develop a code for ethical supply chain behaviour, that will ensure awareness and understanding of actions to mitigate against ethical supply chain issues.

Well-being Duty on Specified Public Bodies in Wales

All public bodies, listed in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, have a duty to set and publish well-being objectives that outline how they will contribute to achieving each of the well-being goals and take reasonable steps to meet those objectives.

Details on the progress for each of the commitments and their milestones can be found in Annex 1 attached.

Conclusion and next steps

This first set of commitments has provided a really good starting point for us to build on to continue increasing the openness of our government. Not only are we making good progress in implementing the commitments, the process itself has also helped us establish a useful government network across UK that has shared advice and support throughout.

Going forward we need to focus on implementing our first set of commitments as well as establishing new, ambitious commitments if we are to raise the bar on open government across Wales. We recognise that the Wales Open Government Network are key to us doing this both in holding us to account and in ensuring that future commitments are developed collaboratively with civil society in Wales. We are in regular contact with the network lead and will shortly be working together to agree an approach for developing commitments for the 2018-2020 National Action Plan.

Develop and implement an open data plan for Welsh Government and work towards achieving the commitments outlined within the plan.

Lead department(s)

Office of the Chief Digital Officer, Welsh Government

Others involved in implementation to date

-

Timeline

March 2016 – March 2018

Overall commitment status

On track / Behind schedule

Overall progress against commitment

The Welsh Government Open Data Plan was published in March 2016. Good progress has been made on a number of the commitments set out in the Open Data Plan. Progress on a couple of the commitments has been slower than anticipated.

Milestone 1: Implement commitments outlined within the Welsh Government Open Data Plan

March 2016 – March 2018

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Good progress has been made on a number of the commitments set out in the Welsh Government Open Data Plan. Work was undertaken to improve the openness rating of StatsWales, new information on the Welsh Government website is being published using open formats and advice/support continues to be provided to public sector bodies.

Work to develop a catalogue of open datasets and acquisition of open data certification has been slower than anticipated.

Status: On track / Behind schedule

Develop an Open Data Service for Wales with a focus on helping improve public services.

Lead department(s)

Head of Geography and Technology, Welsh Government

Others involved in implementation to date

Welsh Government initiative publishing data for Wales, some of which may emanate from other government departments.

Users have been involved in the development of the StatsWales site, e.g. providing feedback, and being updated in various user forums. This has included our user group covering the third sector.

We’re working to allow other public sector partners to publish via StatsWales with their own logo. To date only the Welsh Language Commissioner has done so.

Timeline

March 2016 – March 2017

Overall commitment status

On track

Overall progress against commitment

Largely on track, some delays regarding the open data catalogue aspects, but key deliverables around open data delivered.

Milestone 1: StatsWales data published in machine readable format

June 2016 (ongoing)

Update on progress against milestones/activities

All non-archived StatsWales data (90% of content) now available in machine readable format.

Status: Completed

Milestone 2: StatsWales training material on improvements prepared and delivered

November 2016 – December 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Training material in production, delivery schedule being discussed.

Status: On track

Milestone 3: Lle developed to allow users to build their own maps

January 2016 – January 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Beta service available to all users, system being used internally to produce map profiles.

Work on improving both the volume of data available to users for surfacing in maps and it’s associated quality has begun.

Status: Completed

Milestone 4: Open data catalogue produced

October 2016 – December 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Preparatory steps taken to surface the StatsWales catalogue content in a format that can be automatically read into a wider CKAN catalogue. This was intended as part of a proof of concept for a catalogue that can bring multiple sources together by defining the plug in mechanism for existing systems.

However, delays in letting a contract have emerged as we were trying to combine this aspect with automatic Open Data Institute accreditation of the data on StatsWales, but because accreditation in ODI has recently been scaled back, this has not proven possible.

Status: Behind schedule

Develop StatsWales, the Welsh Government’s online repository for detailed statistical data, to increase its openness rating to 4*.

Lead department(s)

Head of Geography and Technology, Welsh Government

Others involved in implementation to date

Welsh Government initiative publishing data for Wales, some of which may emanate from other government departments.

Users have been involved in the development of the StatsWales site, e.g. providing feedback, and being updated in various user forums. This has included our user group covering the third sector.

We’re working to allow other public sector partners to publish via StatsWales with their own logo. To date only the Welsh Language Commissioner has done so.

Timeline

March 2016 – December 2017

Overall commitment status

On track

Overall progress against commitment

Largely on track, some delays regarding accreditation and training material, but key deliverables around open data delivered.

Milestone 1: StatsWales data published in machine readable format

June 2016 (ongoing)

Update on progress against milestones/activities

All non-archived StatsWales data (90% of content) now available in machine readable format.

Status: Completed

Milestone 2: StatsWales guidance and training videos prepared and published

November 2016 – December 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Material prepared, awaiting translation and quote from contractors for surfacing.

Status: Behind schedule

Milestone 3: Accreditation of StatsWales carried out successfully

September 2016 – March 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Preparatory steps were taken to surface the catalogue content in a format that can be automatically read into a CKAN catalogue and thus by Open Data Institute accreditation software. However the recent lack of focus on accreditation by the Open Data Institute has led to delays in procuring the accreditation aspects.

Status: Completed as far as currently possible

Milestone 4: StatsWales training material prepared and delivered

November 2016 – December 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Training material in production, delivery schedule being discussed.

Status: On track

In partnership with the Administrative Data Research Centre Wales, the Welsh Government will work to ensure that access to government datasets is available in a secure and safe manner for the purposes of academic and public sector research. Furthermore, such access is promoted to maximise the use of such data for research that is published and made available to support better decisions.

Lead department(s)

Chief Statistician, Welsh Government

Others involved in implementation to date

UK Statistics Authority

Administrative Data Research Centre – Wales (academic partnership); ESRC; Administrative Data Research Network Board

Timeline

Continuous

Overall commitment status

On track

Overall progress against commitment

Further research in partnership with the Administrative Data Research Centre-Wales has been published, significant work is underway to increase the number of public sector datasets available for Welsh researchers through the ADRC-W and a jointly-funded Welsh Government-Economic and Social Research Council project is underway to pilot the installation of ‘National Research Data Appliances’ for local authorities to support them to supply data for research purposes to the ADRC-W.

Milestone 1: Publish further research in partnership with the Administrative Data Research Centre-Wales by the end of the financial year

March 2015 – 31 March 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Two projects within the Welsh Government Programme to Maximise the Use of Existing Data published research reports in 2016-17 (The Supporting People Data Linking Feasibility Study published its feasibility report in March 2016 and the Fuel Poverty Data Linking Project published its first substantive findings report: Findings Report No.1: initial findings on the impact on Health of the Warm Homes Nest Scheme on the 4th April 2017) and various projects within the Programme are on track to produce further publications of research findings during 2017-18, including the Supporting People Data Linking Project, which published its Year One Progress Report in June 2017 and the Fuel Poverty Data Linking Project.

Status: On track

Milestone 2: Increase the number of public sector datasets available for Welsh researchers through the ADRC-W by the end of the financial year

March 2015 – 31 March 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Welsh Government has been working on a number of fronts to increase the number of public sector datasets available for Welsh researchers through the ADRC-W; this has included:

1. Working with academic projects to assist and advise them with regard to gaining access to datasets e.g. data for Children Looked After/Children in Need, which is in the process of being made available
2. Funding/jointly funding (e.g. with the Economic and Social Research Council) data linking research projects that drive the sharing of additional datasets e.g. data for the Welsh Government funded Warm Homes Nest home energy efficiency scheme
3. Building a requirement to provide datasets to SAIL/the ADRC-W into grant Terms & Conditions for national programmes e.g. Supporting People and Flying Start, for both of which data has begun to be made available
4. Developing and jointly funding (with the Economic and Social Research Council) the Dataflow Development Project (also see Milestone 3, below), which will install ‘National Research Data Appliances’ in local authorities in Wales; in addition to increasing the capacity of local authorities to share data within and between authorities, this project will support local authorities in developing routine, regular data flows into SAIL/the ADRC-W for use by Welsh Researchers
5. Already established routine deposits of public data have continued to be made e.g. for the National Pupil Database and National Survey for Wales.

Welsh Government has also worked with the ADRC-W to prepare ‘Data Briefs’ for researchers describing the content of datasets e.g. for the National Survey for Wales.

Status: On track

Milestone 3: Pilot techniques for local authorities to supply data for research in the ADRC-W by the end of the financial year

September 2016 – 31 March 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

A jointly-funded Welsh Government-Economic and Social Research Council project is underway to pilot the installation of ‘National Research Data Appliances’ for local authorities to support them to supply data for research purposes to SAIL/ the ADRC-W. The funding for the Dataflow Development Project pilot phase was secured and recruitment began by the end of financial year 2016-17. Due to delays in confirming funding and therefore in recruitment, the pilot year began in June 2017 and will support a parallel pilot project to test the collection of individual-level data for the Welsh Government Flying Start Programme as well as seeking to acquire local authority data for other ADRC-W projects e.g. the Supporting People Data Linking Project.

Status: Behind schedule

Welsh Government will continue to publish government research according to the Government Social Research Publication Protocol, with reports pre-announced and published on the ‘Statistics & Research’ pages of the Welsh Government website. Publication of social research reports, according to the GSR publication protocol, is a key part of the Welsh Government Principles for Research and Evaluation.

Lead department(s)

Chief Social Research Officer, Welsh Government

Others involved in implementation to date

Welsh Government

Timeline

While the GSR publication protocol has been in use by Welsh Government since its introduction in 2010, there has been ministerial commitment to the use of the protocol from March 2014.

Overall commitment status

Completed

Overall progress against commitment

Welsh Government continue to adhere to the GSR publication protocol and to pre-announce all research publications.

Milestone 1: Using the GSR publication protocol for all research publications

March 2010 (ongoing)

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Protocol is in place and no breaches have occurred.

Status: Completed

Milestone 2: Ministerial commitment to use of Government Social Research publication protocol

March 2014 (ongoing)

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Ministerial commitment reconfirmed following 2016 election.

Status: Completed

We will make our information and services easier to find and consume by consolidating our digital content on a new Welsh Government website that is focussed on meeting user needs. The site will include an improved consultation service.

Lead department(s)

Head of Corporate Digital Team, Communications Division

Others involved in implementation to date

Welsh citizens are involved in the testing of the website.

Timeline

1 April 2015 – 30 June 2019

Overall commitment status

On track

Overall progress against commitment

Although initial milestones have been successfully completed, the work required to complete the full migration of content to the new platform is taking longer than anticipated. Corrective action has been put in place to meet the milestone date.

Milestone 1: Launch beta consultations service, including response forms that users can save

1 July 2016 – 30 September 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

The consultations platform was launched on time. It is well used and positive feedback received from both internal and external users.

Status: Completed

Milestone 2: Launch beta campaigns platform

1 October 2016 – 30 November 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

The campaign platform is used to promote campaigns and has substantially reduced the cost and time required to generate content.

Status: Completed

Milestone 3: Launch beta public bodies platform

1 January 2017 – 31 March 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Several public bodies have been migrated to the new platform and additional functionality is now being scoped for future phases of development.

Status: Completed

Milestone 4: Publish first tranche of beta corporate content

1 October 2016 – 30 April 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

A limited first tranche of content has been delivered and continues to be refined.

Status: Completed

Milestone 5: Publish first tranche of beta corporate content

1 May 2017 – 30 June 2019

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Work is underway to move content to the new platform but is taking longer than expected.

Status: Behind schedule

Welsh Government will develop a code for ethical supply chain behaviour, that will ensure awareness and understanding of actions to mitigate against ethical supply chain issues.

Lead department(s)

Special Projects Manager, Value Wales, ESNR

Others involved in implementation to date

Public sector organisations in Wales

Businesses and third sector organisations in Wales.

Timeline

March 2016 – early in 2017

Overall commitment status

Completed

Overall progress against commitment

Completed

Milestone 1: First draft completed and introduced at Procurex

March 2016 – September 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

The code was introduced at Procurex 2016.

Status: Completed

Milestone 2: Task and Finish Group established and first meeting set-up

October 2016 – November 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

This was successful and resulted in the publication of the Code of Practice in March 2017. The engagement with the Task and Finish Group continues – with on-going work to oversee implementation.

Status: Completed

Milestone 3: Engagement with business and third sector

October 2016 – early 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

This is an on-going activity – to raise awareness of the Code and increase sign-up.

Status: On track

Milestone 4: Ethical supply chain code launch

Early in 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Launched on 9 March 2017 at the Workforce Partnership Council meeting.

Status: Completed

Milestone 5: Sign-up

Ongoing

Update on progress against milestones/activities

At October 2017 the Welsh Government, all Welsh Universities and Welsh Police Forces have signed up, as has 1 local authority, 2 housing associations and over 25 businesses and third sector organisations. Many others are in the process of doing so, or considering this.

Status: On track

To measure progress towards the achievement of the 7 well-being goals for Wales set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and report on them annually.

Lead department(s)

Chief Statistician

Others involved in implementation to date

Specified public bodies under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015

Future Generations Commissioner for Wales

Auditor General for Wales.

Timeline

March 2016 – early in 2017

Overall commitment status

On track

Overall progress against commitment

On 25 September the Chief Statistician published the first ever annual Well-being of Wales report. The report is comprised of a narrative on our progress against each of the 7 well-being goals alongside reports for each of the 46 national indicators drawing on our StatsWales open data.

Milestone 1: Lay the ‘National Indicators for Wales’ before the National Assembly for Wales

April 2015 – March 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

The Welsh Government laid before the National Assembly for Wales a set of 46 national indicators designed to measure progress at a Wales level in achieving the 7 well-being goals for Wales. An accompanying technical document was published to provide further information on the final indicators.

Status: Completed

Milestone 2: Produce the first Annual Well-being Report for Wales

April 2016 – Summer 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

The Well-being of Wales 2016/17 Report was published on 25 September 2017.

Status: Completed

All public bodies, listed in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, have a duty to set and publish well-being objectives that outline how they will contribute to achieving each of the well-being goals and take reasonable steps to meet those objectives.

Lead department(s)

-

Others involved in implementation to date

The 43 specified public bodies under the Act and Public Service Boards

Future Generations Commissioner for Wales

Auditor General for Wales

Timeline

April 2016 onwards

Overall commitment status

Completed

Overall progress against commitment

The duty on specified public bodies to set and publish well-being objectives, and duty on Public Services Boards to assess local well-being is contained within the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. These are the first duties that need to be discharged in order to provide the foundation for specified public bodies and Public Services Boards to deliver the promise of the Act. Milestones 2 and 3 were completed within the statutory timeframes set out in the Act. The focus for Public Bodies subject to the Act is now to take steps to meet their objectives in accordance with the Sustainable Development Principle. For Public Services Boards the focus is now on establishing local collective objectives to improve the well-being of people in that area – towards publishing a Local Well-being Plan by May 2018.

Milestone 1: Legal duty comes into force

April 2016 – April 2016

Update on progress against milestones/activities

The relevant section of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 were commenced on 1 April 2016.

Status: Completed

Milestone 2: Public Bodies publish their first well-being objectives

April 2016 – April 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

All public bodies subject to the well-being duty published their first well-being objectives. These can be found on the respective websites. A list of public bodies subject to the well-being duty.

Status: Completed

Milestone 3: Public Service Boards – Assessment of local well-being

April 2016 – May 2017

Update on progress against milestones/activities

Public Service Boards have completed their assessment of local well-being which will form the basis on which the boards will determine the local objectives it sets. Further information on GOV.WALES

Status: Completed