Better use of data in government ? open consultation

11 April 2016

In the forward from Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP confirms the issues this consultation looks to address “When data is used effectively, everyone benefits from better services that can be delivered at a lower cost to taxpayers. Citizens too have a strong expectation that data will be used responsibly, proportionately and securely ensuring that their data is respected and handled sensitively. As the volume of data and our capacity to deliver digital services grow, the opportunities to improve services increase — but so too must our governance and safeguards to best protect our data against increasing cyber security threats.”

The paper works on the premise that information sharing between public authorities, where the information is well governed, proportionate and secure, ‘can improve the lives of citizens and go on to support decisions on the economy which allow businesses to flourish, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector’.

This consultation looks at enabling greater information sharing between public authorities and the proposals fall into 3 categories:

Improving public services

allowing public authorities to share personal data in specific contexts to improve the welfare of a specific person
enabling public authorities to access to civil registration data (births, deaths and marriages)

Addressing fraud and debt

helping citizens manage their debt more effectively and reduce the overdue debt that they owe to government
helping detect and prevent the losses government currently experiences due to fraudulent activity

Allowing use of data for research and official statistics

giving theOffice for National Statistics access to detailed administrative government data to improve their statistics
using de-identified data in secure facilities to carry out research for public benefit

Your views can be submitted by Friday 22 April 2016 in writing to the:

Data Sharing Policy Team,

Floor 6, Aviation House,

London WC2B 6NH

Or by e-mail to [email protected]