Engaging Conversations: Developing the Open Government National Action Plan
/In this blog, Sam Jordan from SCDC highlights some of the themes emerging from a series of recent events exploring the development of the next Open Government National Action Plan.
Building on discussions with community organisations and equality groups in the first phase of the co-creation process, we were delighted to continue this work by facilitating a series of online discussions on the four themes of the National Action Plan.
During these discussions, we heard from colleagues from across government and civil society about their experiences and priorities, highlighting key actions and areas for development across the commitments and building on what we heard from community organisations in phase one.
What we heard – summary
Trust and transparency: Discussion focused on the importance of clarity around communicating decision-making journeys, recognising low levels of trust in government. Along with this there was a focus on developing easy-to-understand explanations of government structures and democratic processes.
Ethical use of data: Here there was discussion on the safe and appropriate use of AI and Large Language Models, and how we safeguard people’s data and overcome concerns around how it can be used by government – especially in the context of social security decision-making.
Anti-corruption: For this commitment, participants explored how best to map the governance and accountability integrity landscape, with a focus on strengthening transparency and accountability mechanisms such as Freedom of Information and registers of interest.
Public participation: On participation, the development of participation infrastructure and capacity was seen as key to avoid ‘scaling without foundations’, along with proper resourcing and communications, and the embedding of co-production into practice.
A full report of phase two is available to download here.
Next steps
These online discussions led to an in-person workshop, held in Townhead Village Hall in Glasgow, where these key actions and next steps around this process were brought together in an overarching discussion.
A summary of that final discussion, and SCDC’s overall recommendations for the National Action Plan, will be delivered to our civil society and government colleagues and shared more widely soon.
Throughout this process we’ve found it really valuable to hear from communities, civil society and government colleagues, underlining the key role that engagement plays in policy development and decision-making.
Co-creation continues over the Summer. The Open Government Team will develop the Action Plan with individuals and organisations outside government. Read more about their plans and timeline.
If you are interested in working with government on shared priorities here is how to get involved.
