Introducing the Centre for Public Data
Today marks the launch of the Centre for Public Data (CFPD).
The Centre is being founded to drive up the quality of public data - that is, data that is collected, published or regulated by the UK state.
Our primary focus is on securing high-quality data through legislation.
We also campaign to fill important gaps in public data, and publish practical data-driven projects.
Join the mailing list, find us on Twitter and GitHub, and get in touch.
Why this? Why now?
The UK has, in the past, been a pioneer in the collection and usage of data for official purposes. But its institutions have struggled to keep up with change.
A series of difficulties share a common root - a state whose data processes and systems are not fit for purpose.
Take, for example, the high-profile recent news about Covid-19 cases in care homes, where critical data was not shared with care homes early in the outbreak. Care home operators told the BBC that the failure to share data left them “playing a tragic game of catch-up”.
Or consider the recent Windrush scandal, where the National Audit Office noted (pdf) that poor-quality data governance was a key factor in British citizens being wrongly deported and denied public services. The Public Accounts Committee said (pdf) that Government was “making life-changing decisions on people’s rights, based on incorrect data from systems that are not fit for purpose”.
Our approach
Although there are many reasons why government data is poor, we think one factor outstrips the others in importance - a failure to secure important data in legislation.
Although data is now at the heart of every significant policy issue, Parliament still passes Acts that don’t require the Government to collect or publish data about their impact, as if that were an unimportant implementation detail.
But data is too important to be optional, or built in as an afterthought. Ask anyone who’s ever built a system that produces metrics, and you’ll learn that data collection is hard - so it needs to be mandated from the start or it’ll quietly fall by the wayside.
Our highest-quality public datasets, such as air quality data, are underpinned by strong legal requirements to collect and publish data.
But in areas of public life where data is missing or weak, typically the relevant legislation is silent. This is a 20th-century mindset that isn’t good enough for the 21st century.
What will you do?
Our primary approach will be to study draft legislation - Bills and statutory instruments - before they are passed into law.
We will work with Government, legislators, the civil service and civil society to understand the policy aims of new Bills.
We will ensure that they contain requirements to collect and publish meaningful data about the outputs and outcomes of the policy.
And we will work with people and institutions of all stripes to make sure these requirements are sensible, ethical and useful.
Our first target: the Agriculture Bill
Right now, there is a real danger that the new Agriculture Bill will be a classic 20th-century example of a Bill that ignores data.
The Bill dramatically reforms the farm payments system in the UK, paying farmers to deliver ‘public goods’, like environmental improvements.
Currently, details of the £3.5 billion paid annually to UK farmers are made public, because this is a legal requirement.
Unfortunately, nobody appears to have noticed that as currently drafted, the new Agriculture Bill may very well lead to less data on farm payments being collected and published than is presently the case.
This would leave MPs, ministers, farmers and the public with less actionable intelligence than before, not more.
It will also make it harder to use this rich geospatial data in innovative new ways - perhaps to start new businesses and grow the economy.
We have written a briefing paper about this, and a draft amendment on data provisions, suitable for inclusion at Lords report stage.
Who are you? How are you paying for this?
The Centre for Public Data has been founded by Anna Powell-Smith (Twitter), a public-interest data scientist. Read more about the organisation.
We are incorporated as a Community Interest Company, and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust - we are grateful to them for supporting our work.
Can I collaborate with you?
Yes! We are keen to work with:
Policy experts who want to measure the effects of upcoming legislation quantitatively
Companies and startups who need public data to innovate and build new products
Journalists who use public datasets to investigate social issues
Civil servants in Bill Teams who are drafting legislation
Legislators and lawyers who are interested in the accountability and quality of modern legislation.
Please join our mailing list, and get in touch if there are specific policy or legislative areas you would like to discuss.