Scotland’s Open Government Partnership Steering Group, responsible for the strategic direction and decision making relating to the development, delivery and monitoring of Scotland’s 2018/20 Open Government Action Plan, will be meeting in Edinburgh tomorrow morning from 10am - 11:30am.
As per the terms of reference for the group, we are sharing the agenda (found below) for the meeting in advance and there is the opportunity for members to join as observers if they would like. Please get in touch if this is something you would like to attend.
Hi Steering Group members,
How did the OGP Scotland Steering Group meeting go? Grateful for your feedback on what was discussed and your sense of where we are now and where we are going with OGP Action plan. Thanks, Ruchir.
It went reasonably well, although it is difficult to have consistency and support to Niamh / Doreen as the Co Chair on the SG side has never been the same person.
There are concerns emerging about support for civic society and capacity ; financial resources for the Network ; and most of all, the planning and delivery of the Action Plan as this does not appear on the face of it to have started. There are not yet owners with agreed Plans for the 5 commitments in the Plan, and I think we need to start on this before May. The meeting did not really address these issues as we were running out of time. We can pick them up when we meet next month and in correspondence.
It would be very helpful if we can co-design all these in google documents so there is open, transparent working in the OGP itself in Scotland from now on. This was not the case with the last 6 months to create the Action Plan as you know, and for openness across Scotland we should encourage open working to see what is going on. I think Wales, NI and England may well do this already.
Hi all
A note of the meeting has been circulated to steering group members for review and will be published next week. I’ll make sure it’s shared here.
Thanks,
Niamh
Thanks Alex and Niamh
I recognise the concerns about resourcing civil society capacity.
I’d be grateful to network members for any thoughts on who might like to invest in civil society capacity and on what terms.
Hi Niamh
How’s that note of the meeting coming on? Keen to see it before we get into the UK OGN civil society steering group strategy day tomorrow. Any chance you can circulate tomorrow morning?
Thanks in advance, Ruchir
Hope the meeting goes well Ruchir, I am not sure when Niamh is expecting back corrections from the members of the steering group, if she can I am sure she will circulate today. However, we knew that Kaela was coming to the meeting so will be able to give a very thourough update from the meeting. Hope you also get the chance to consider the Scottish proposed commitment for the UK plan - improving it from a civil society view point would be really welcome.
Hello! Yes we are currently writing a short update and aiming to publish early July. We sent a draft of the short update to steering group members yesterday but it is not yet complete and waiting on a few updates before publishing. We shared this with the members ahead of the interim summer meeting on Thursday. This is not a full formal meeting as many people can’t make it/summer holidays already started, but offered as a catch-up to check in. Notes will be published. We are also gathering a more detailed update for August ahead of the September next formal steering group meeting which will also be published. Thanks for checking in and hope that helps.
Niamh
Thanks @NiamhWebster.
I strongly believe that any drafts shared with the civil society members of the steering group should be shared with this forum at the same time. I don’t think there needs to be a distinction between the steering group members and the wider network when it comes to drafts, papers or updates.
Can you confirm Scottish Government’s position on this?
Best, Ruchir.
Im pushing for either using a platform like trello or teamgantt.com for this so all the network/public can all see in real time where we are at with the nap, who is planning to meet with who and windows of opportunity for (meaningful) participation.
It would be a bit of a faff - esp. the initial admin but as that would be more self managed it would help with the diverse areas of specialist and indepth working groups taking place e.g. national investment bank, digital identity, citizens assembly etc.
Transparency
Network Representatives will make it simple for the wider Open Government Network and public to inspect their work as members of the OGP Steering Group. Communications between Representatives will take place in a dedicated group on the online forum, civil society papers will be published online and decisions made by the group will be presented in a clear and understandable way.
**Accountability *(NB: There is no coordinator at present for Scotland - see this post: )
Network Representatives will work closely with the Coordinator to report on their work to the Open Government Network. Representatives are expected to update members following meetings of the OGP Steering Group, and will provide an update report every six months as part of the process for monitoring effectiveness of Network Representatives on the Steering Group.
Participation
Network Representatives will seek the input of the network throughout the design and delivery of the Action Plan. This includes via the online forum, network meetings and short life working groups jointly held between the network and government. There is also the opportunity for network members to stand-in for a Representative unable to attend the OGP Steering Group.
**Coordination *(NB: There is no coordinator at present for Scotland - see this post: )
The Civil Society Coordinator will support Network Representatives to help guide and maintain the above principles of good governance. The Coordinator will work closely with the Government’s Coordinator to ensure effective and efficient collaborative working.