7. Public information should be published

7. Public Information should be published

Public information includes the objective, factual, non-personal information on which public services are run and assessed, and on which policy decisions are based, or which is collected or generated in the course of public service delivery[1].  This public information should be published, unless there are overriding reasons not to. 

Publishing public information provides benefits to the public sector and the communities it serves through:

• Making government more accountable and approachable
• Creating better value for money by providing an insight into how money is spent and thereby encouraging departments to improve controls and reduce costs
• Stimulating growth by enabling businesses to develop innovative information based products and applications.
• Providing choice and improving public sector outcomes by giving citizens the information they need to make informed decisions about services they use.
• Opening up public sector contracts giving companies, social enterprises, charities and employee owned cooperatives the opportunity to compete.
• Reduces the costs and risks of information management by promoting a self service approach to accessing information.

Putting it into practice

The council publishes information in line with Transparency requirements and the publication scheme in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. Where possible any information that could be considered public should be published on the council’s website, unless there is continuing commercial sensitivity attached to it.

[1] See definition of “Public Data” - New Public Sector Transparency Board and Public Data Transparency Principles.