An article examined the impact of the new government's policies (including the scrapping of quangos and cuts in departmental spending) on the ombudsman community.
Source: Richard Kirkham, 'Quangos, coalition government and the ombudsmen', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 32 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Dec
An audit report in Scotland examined the governance arrangements of National Health Service and other public sector bodies. Accountability could be complex, with chief executives and boards reporting in different ways to the Scottish Government, ministers, and the Scottish Parliament. This risked causing confusion about who led an organization and was responsible for its decisions.
Source: The Role Of Boards, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release
Date: 2010-Oct
The new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government announced plans to increase transparency of government data, including publishing: new items of central government spending over £25,000; street-level crime data; and pay rates for senior civil servants with annual salaries above £150,000. It also announced plans for a Public Sector Transparency Board within the Cabinet Office, responsible for setting open data standards across the public sector, and publishing further datasets on the basis of public demand.
Source: Letter from David Cameron MP (Prime Minister), 31 May 2010
Links: Text of letter | Telegraph report | People Management report | BBC report
Date: 2010-May
A new book examined how the Freedom of Information Act of 2005 had enabled the public to contribute to local decision-making and debate local issues.
Source: Richard Chapman and Michael Hunt (eds.), Freedom of Information: Local Government and Accountability, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-May
A report (by an official advisory body) examined when and how individuals should be able to obtain redress against public bodies that had acted in a substandard way. In the case of court-based remedies, it said that there were good arguments for reform: but, given the level of opposition to its earlier proposals and the absence of available data on the costs of compensation paid by public bodies, no further proposals would be made. The report did, however, recommend that the government should establish a process for collecting and publishing information on the cost of public compensation.
Source: Administrative Redress: Public bodies and the citizen, LC322/HC 6, Law Commission/TSO
Links: Report | Law Commission press release
Date: 2010-May
A discussion paper examined the information available to the public on public services, including its quality, accessibility, volume, and trustworthiness. Simply depositing large volumes of data online was not enough to give people more choice or to improve decision-making. There was an increasing number of 'infomediaries' who presented data in ways that people liked to use: but there were questions over the assurances the public needed in order for them to be able to rely on the information made available.
Source: The Truth Is Out There: Transparency in an information age, Audit Commission
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined the implications of internet communication technologies for the accountability of public services.
Source: Adam Pickering, Cannot Find Server: Reconnecting public accountability, Centre for Public Scrutiny
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined public service behaviour during the early post-implementation period of the 2002 Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. It examined the extent to which freedom of information was generating new arrangements for managing information, thereby supporting the government's broader modernization agenda.
Source: John Taylor and Eleanor Burt, 'How do public bodies respond to freedom of information legislation? Administration, modernisation and democratisation', Policy & Politics, Volume 38 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb