Legislative Openness (UK0051)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: United Kingdom – Second National Action Plan 2013-2015
Action Plan Cycle: 2013
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: The National Archives
Support Institution(s): CSOs: Involve, The Democratic Society
Policy Areas
Capacity Building, Democratizing Decision-Making, Open Parliaments, Private Sector, Regulatory GovernanceIRM Review
IRM Report: United Kingdom End-of-Term Report 2013-2015, United Kingdom Progress Report 2013-2015
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): High
Implementation i
Description
The volume and piecemeal structure of the statute book make it difficult for users to find and use legislation. To make the entire collection of UK legislation available free of charge on a user friendly platform such as legislation.gov.uk enables lawyers and ordinary citizens alike to identify and scrutinise the laws on which their legal rights and responsibilities are based. The site contains legislation as it is originally enacted or made, and in the case of Acts in revised or amended form, thereby showing changes to legislation over time. It already offers users significant access to UK legislation. Legislation.gov.uk is the world’s first linked data statute book, providing free online access to all UK legislation. Bringing the online statute book fully up to date will provide full access to the statute book as open data – providing an API to give developers full and open access to the underlying data – and will be a step change in transparency and access to the law.
Timescales: The UK government has set the goal of applying all outstanding legislative effects by the end of 2015. Metrics for the timely release of information against the various legislation are already set and year on year progress can be measured through collection and amalgamating the relevant data sources. Progress towards this is monitored as one of The National Archives’ key performance indicators and reported on in its annual report to Parliament.
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