Keir Starmer Urged to Work With Leaders in Governance and Transparency to ‘Rebuild Public Trust’

Leaders in governance and transparency from the UK and around the world have written to Keir Starmer offering to help rebuild trust between government and the public which the new prime minister has signalled is a key concern.

The correspondence also hit out at the Conservative government, slamming its leadership as “non-existent” at times, and the “appalling public misspending and cronyism” that existed during the Covid pandemic.

The letter, coordinated by the UK Open Government Network, is “an unprecedented gathering of civil society experts” in transparency, integrity, participation, and innovation and includes the support of, Transparency International, the National Council for Voluntary Service, Spotlight on Corruption, Involve, Open Data Institute, Compassion in Politics, Open Contracting Partnership, Open UK, Foreign Policy Centre, and Icebreaker One, a press release states.

Signatories, which include Byline Times Executive Editor Peter Jukes, welcomed Starmer’s pledge outside 10 Downing Street after Labour’s landslide victory to “rebuild trust through actions not words,” and suggested an existing model of government and civil society collaboration could support this. 

Through membership of the 75-country Open Government Partnership (OGP) – a multilateral initiative instigated by the former US President Barack Obama – the UK government jointly produces open government plans with civil society. It is thought this process – which the UK joined in 2011 – could be expanded, the letter notes, to widen representation, including from business, to achieve the government’s five missions.

Kevin Keith, Chair of the UK Open Government Network and Co-Chair of the UK Multi-Stakeholder Forum, said: “The Post Office scandal, PPE procurement, the opaque mortgage-raising 2022 mini-budget, the impact of corruption on UK growth, and the disregard for public standards and subsequent collapse in trust, demonstrate that open government is not peripheral to people’s lives: it is central. And that so much more could be done. This is why we welcome the opportunity to work with a new government to revive this agenda, broaden participation in policy-making and rebuild trust.”

The letter notes that open government has led to the UK becoming the first country in the G20 to introduce a register of company ownership (beneficial ownership); at one stage, a world-leader in the release of open data to drive innovation; developing the world’s first algorithmic transparency standard; and developing the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy. Policy commitments in transparency of official development assistance (ODA), natural resource transparency, fiscal transparency, open justice, and open contracting (procurement) amongst others, have also been jointly developed.

Adding to Keith’s statement, the letter told Starmer that the “disregard for public standards and subsequent collapse in trust, demonstrate that open government is not peripheral to people’s lives: it is central. And that so much more could be done.”

Open government “done well”, the letter states, reduces opportunities for corruption -saving the taxpayer money – builds trust through a collaborative approach to problem solving and policy development; helps ensure officials act in the public interest and enhances the integrity of public institutions and supports growth and efficiency by leveraging technology and data.

The letter outlined five ways the partnership could support the Labour Government, which it noted, had, in its manifesto stated that “government is at its best when working in partnership” and that “mission-driven government means a new way of doing government that is more joined up, pushes power out to communities and harnesses new technology”.

The OGP, the letter states, “has a unique model of co-creation that brings together reformers from inside and outside of government” to develop National Action Plans for Open Government, a model, that “could aid the delivery of your missions to rebuild Britain”.

The letter continued that, “disappointingly” the previous government was “unwilling to meaningfully engage on standards in public life”, but Labour’s plans for a new independent Ethics and Integrity Commission, and the OGP process, “provide an opportunity for ongoing engagement with standards experts and civil society groups to restore trust in public life”.

To tackle corruption and money laundering, the letter noted, that the current National Action Plan “contains a commitment to regular engagement with civil society on a new cross-departmental UK Anti-Corruption Strategy” that is to be delivered by 2025. It is to be overseen by a new Anti-Corruption Champion – “a post created by the last Labour government, but which has now been vacant for over 18 months”. 

Enabling innovation and driving growth through open data , Starmer was told, “is a fundamental aspect of open government”.

While, the letter noted, the world’s first algorithmic transparency standard was developed by the UK government in partnership with the OGP, “much more could be done on artificial intelligence, machine learning and automated decision-making (and more widely open data) to support Labour’s Industrial Strategy whilst maintaining safeguards and ensuring all the public benefit”.

Open contracting (procurement reform), the letter states, is “a key aspect of open government and will be crucial for better, mission-driven public spending” and a “large civil society network exists to support a Labour government with this agenda through the open government process, several of whom are also core participants to the Covid Inquiry module on public procurement”. The letter calls out the “appalling public misspending and cronyism during the pandemic”.

The letter concluded by focussing on leadership, stating that open government can help those “combating corruption drive legislative change, those awarding government contracts to innovate and achieve the best value, and those tackling laundered money to shine a light into the sometimes dark corners of property and company ownership”.

It can also, the letter states, support those seeking to address inequality, improve the impact of ODA through greater transparency, or “positively influence those upholding the fundamentals” of our justice system; support freedom of the press and access to information, help restore political integrity and those seeking to address the twin challenges of our time: climate and technological change. And it can support the “development of trust between government, institutions, and civil society”.

This requires, the letter concludes, talented civil servants, a “willing civil society, and crucially strong political leadership.” The latter, the letter notes, was “at times non-existent under the previous government”.

“Your commitment to politics ‘driven by a sense of service to the country’ is welcome. As Prime Minister, we hope you and your government will commit to re-energising open government as the basis of a more democratic, equal, and just society.”

The letter ended by requesting “your support” for open government and with a request for a meeting.