Maude consults public on which data sets should be made public

Sets from the Land Registry, Companies House and transport data already identified as popular

Data sets on transport are likely to be made public

In the latest move in the government’s drive to increase transparency, Francis Maude, minister for the Cabinet Office, has called for people to say which government data sets they would like to see released on data.gov.uk.

This followed a second meeting of the Public Sector Transparency Board. The most requested data sets already identified by the board include the Land Registry, Companies House, the Integrated Business Register, transport data, weather information and Environment Agency data.

Maude said: “As the saying goes, information is power. By making data sets freely available, people are more able to hold public bodies to account and challenge them. This is just the start of a process which will only end when transparency and openness are an integral part of the way public bodies operate and serve their customers.”

As part of this transparency drive the government also published procurement spend by English local authorities and the Department of Health last week.

However, not all the government’s recent attempts at public consultation have proven successful, with its Spending Challenge web site, launched earlier this month, being pulled after attracting a range of bizarre and racist proposals.

A message on the site reads: "As you may have noticed, the site has been subject to a small number of malicious attacks so we have unfortunately had to pause on the interactive features for now, but we’re still keen to hear any further ideas you have, which we may publish at a later date."