Local Government: Disclosure of Information
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 24 February 2025, to Question 30652, on Local Government: Disclosure of Information, if she will undertake an audit of the local government transparency data published by local authorities to ascertain whether data is (a) accessible, (b) published in open reuse formats and (c) published in a timely manner.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The purpose of the Transparency Code is to make it easier for the public to directly hold their councils to account. Councils are independent of central government and expected to meet the Code’s requirements, and to take account of recommendations in the document, including to publish data in a format that allows open reuse. It is for councils to ensure that they are complying with legal duties and government does not monitor or micromanage how such requirements or recommended best practice are being met, including compliance with the Code.
If members of the public have concerns about a local authority’s compliance with the Code, then they should raise this with the authority in question.
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