Transparency

GH and Q Services has been involved in two completed studies using UK Government Mandated transparency data.

The first used NHS financial transparency reports to better understand NHS expenditure and also assess transparency measures. One outcome is that setting a threshold of £25k masks most transactions by volume and significant amounts of money.

The second used Police reported crime outcomes data to try to understand the speed at which crimes that are “under investigation” are converted to other outcomes. Results from this study demonstrated that the release window provided by the Police portal misses the crucial first three months after a crime is reported and also does not extend long enough for the full course of justice to be seen.

A secondary outcome of the Crime Outcomes study is that there are many enforcement agencies that do not appear to be required to be as transparent as the Police. It is right that there be transparency about police reported crime. It is not right that the scrutiny given to the police because they release this detailed data. does not extend to other UK government agencies that do not. Examples include: Action Fraud, MHRA, Environment Agency, Food Standards Agency, NHS Counter Fraud Authority, Post Office, HMRC, Border Agency, and the Judiciary. It is unclear where these enforcement bodies report similar data.