Category: Local Government

#madwd Making a difference with data: Cllr Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson – London Assembly Member and Lewisham Cllr – green Party

Notes on his comments at Making a Difference with Data.

  • data is essential as part of our scrutiny role.
  • we find getting hold of data takes up a good chunk of our time – and our support staff.
  • generally we have problems – officials often reluctant to release raw data to members and meners of the public
  • I’ve started to request that all data I ask for goes on the London datastore so it’s shared [great thing to do]
  • changing the way we make policy – all data we use to make policy is getting shared, which speeds up the analysis of the policy by scrutiny easier.
  • Sharing tree information across London changed tree planting approach – but three years ago it is still like pulling teeth to release the data again.
  • need open and complete information on publicly owned land.
  • on average it costs £300 to answer and Assembly members question.  With open data fewer questions will be asked and so less admin needs to happen – he hopes.

A quick and simple public sector reform to save some money

Please government can we stagger end of financial years?  Can Local Government end theirs in April, Central Government in July, the NHS in October, etc etc  – can publicly funded organisations like social landlords do something similar too?

Public money can and does get wasted in the unruly rush to the end of March.  You could improve that.

Feedback from the Flip training delegates

In September we trained a group of citizens to use Flip cameras, so that they would be able to record events as part of Birmingham Local Democracy Week website. We documented this over at the Local Democracy Week website, and last week we sat down with some of them for a chat about how it all went and what they were able to capture.

One of the most striking things which came out of the conversation was how many of the active citizens interviewed think that what they do is unremarkable. But some of the stories which came out of this, like Claire Spencer’s interview with Local Hearts Award winner Luke McClean, show how dedicated so many people are to improving their communities. Read more