Updated: 'How DWP is being transparent' section amended.
Transparency is important to improved public services. Public reporting of data promotes higher quality and more efficient services, choice and accountability. DWP already:
- tracks and publishes progress against its reform agenda using a series of impact indicators which flow from the department’s annual business plan
- routinely publishes datasets including financial and procurement data, people data such as workforce management, performance-related pay, senior staff salaries
Open data is seen as the key to opening up government and driving economic growth by enabling new systems, products and markets to emerge, supporting other complementary innovations across the economy. Our open data strategy helps us make these improvements within the department.
Our aim is to create and embed a culture of transparency across DWP. Our main activities are outlined in our DWP open data story and vision on this page. Our case studies also show how we are making more DWP data publicly available.
Transparency boards
The Prime Minister set up the Cabinet Office Public Sector Transparency Board in 2010 to help improve transparency across government. Francis Maude chairs the board and its membership includes a mix of public sector data specialists and data experts.
The Welfare Sector Transparency Board is one of a number of boards set up to cover specific policy sectors across government to support transparency and open data.
We’ve set up the External Stakeholder Group to support the work of the Welfare Sector Transparency Board. Its membership consists of data users from the external organisations nominated by board members.
How DWP is being transparent
Our transparency publications and corporate reports show how we are being transparent. Our publication scheme makes information available to the public about how we operate and how we spend our budget.
From July 2013, we will publish satisfaction and experience data including complaints handling (volumes and outcomes) and Ministerial/MPs correspondence (volumes, topics and performance). We conduct and publish communications and customer insight research to help improve customer satisfaction.
Contact us
If you have any queries or comments about the department’s transparency or open data activities, please contact us at transparency.opendata@dwp.gsi.gov.uk