Open Government in Glasgow
An open government is one that shares information, empowers people to hold their actions to account, and supports people to take part in the decisions over public services and policies affecting them.
Glasgow has been a member of the Open Government Partnership since October 2020, and the values of openness, transparency, accountability and participation are core to our membership. Having delivered our first Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow, we are now starting to develop our next Plan to cover 2024-2027.
As an Open Government Partnership (OGP) member, Glasgow has committed to working with local civil society organisations and city stakeholders to advance the open government agenda locally and transform the way the local government serves its citizens.
Glasgow proudly supports OGP values and our membership of this global network provides the city with an opportunity to learn from other OGP members and reformers at the national and local level to advance the open government movement.
Open Government has the potential to improve how we work in Glasgow City Council, and with our Community Planning Partners, so that we are all able to understand the work of local government, to influence it effectively, and be able to hold local government to account.
You can learn more about Open Government in this OGP video.
Why is Open Government important?
Evidence continues to show that open government affects people's lives.
The work of Open Government Partnership members demonstrates the impact of making governments, local and national, more transparent, accountable and participatory. It can benefit the citizens and communities of Glasgow by:
- improving public participation and engagement to make public policy and services more responsive, innovative and effective;
- promoting financial openness and participatory budgeting at the local level to ensure public funds are spent efficiently and in ways that benefit our citizens;
- opening up access to public sector held information which empowers citizens to exercise their rights, hold government to account, and participate effectively in decision making;
- enhancing public accountability which allows citizens to engage and hold public service providers to account - justifying their actions and acting upon criticisms to deliver improvements.
Open Government: Call for Ideas 2024
What would you want to see us doing within the next Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow so that we are all have the information we require to understand the work of local government (and wider public services in the city), to influence it effectively, and be able to hold us to account?
Our first Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow, focussed on actions to increase public participation, explore a digital engagement platform, create an open data hub, and build communications on open government. Are there things from this Action Plan you want us to keep doing, do you have improvements or changes to be addressed, or are there new priorities you'd like included this time.
We want to hear the ideas and priorities of the public, third sector, and other stakeholders in the city to help us decide what to put in our next Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow. We will use this to inform a series of public workshops to explore these themes in more detail in Autumn 2024.
You can make a suggestion and provide feedback by completing this Open Government Survey by Thursday 26 September 2024.
Background and progress made with first Open Government Partnership Plan
Glasgow's Open Government Partnership (OGP) Local Programme membership was announced on 20 October 2020.
As a new member, Glasgow will work with local civil society organisations and other OGP members to advance the open government agenda locally and transform the way the government serves its citizens.
OGP Local Programme membership provides the city with an opportunity to learn from OGP members at the national and local level to advance the open government movement.
More information on Glasgow's membership is available from the Glasgow City Council and Open Government Partnership News and Events website pages.
Further information and updates on the commitments made as part of our Action Plan are available in the following sections.
Commitment 1
Increase Participatory Budgeting through establishing local Citizens Panels
An update on the recommendations for a new model of Area Partnerships and Citizens' Panels was taken to the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership (GCPP) Strategic Partnership in December 2021.
Inception Assessment and the End of Commitment Assessments information
Commitment 2
Explore increased citizen participation through use of Digital Engagement
Information and updates on this commitment will be made available when they are ready.
Commitment 3
Co-creating an Open Data Hub to make information about what we do easier to access and decisions we make more clear
Information contained on Glasgow's Open Data Hub.
Open Data Hub offers a new view of how Glasgow operates - article from Glasgow City Council website.
A campaign to highlight the benefits of greater and easier access to data was launched by Glasgow City Council to help partners and colleagues engage with this commitment.
Commitment 4
Increase Open Government awareness and progress through use of social media, websites and direct communication with citizens
You can watch the Open Government Partnership video explaining what the aims of OGP membership are.
Find out more about the OGP, its work and what members are doing in different parts of the world on their YouTube channel.
Glasgow City Council news story following Committee approval of the first Glasgow Action Plan
Related Information
As our membership of the Open Government Partnership develops we will provide further information and details about the work being undertaken.
- An update on work which has taken place to date was provided to the General Purposes City Policy Committee (August 2021)
- Glasgow's Open Government Action Plan approved by City Administration Committee (September 2021)
Open Government Action Plan for Glasgow 2021-2023
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