Government transparency plan fails to meet anti-corruption body criteria

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Government was first notified by OGP in February 2021 that it had been placed under review after the 2019-2021 plan failed to meet the minimum requirement for “public influence and co-creation”. On publishing the latest plan on Monday, the Government said it was developed in “the unique circumstances of the pandemic” which placed constraints on input from civil society and public sector capacity. “The Government will therefore begin a co-creation process with civil society to develop separate commitments on standards in public life and access to information.” The plan was published as the Prime Minister continued to face intense scrutiny on standards and transparency over alleged parties in No 10 and Whitehall during lockdown. In remarks reported by politic.co.uk, Kevin Keith, chair of the UK Open Government Network, said: “This plan could have demonstrated the government is serious about rebuilding that trust, yet repeated requests to the Government for a commitment on public standards were ignored, many commitments have been watered down including on corruption, and some have been taken out completely.