A Notwestminster 2018 workshop from Tim Davies and Cllr Rachel Smith
Contracting is increasingly central to local government: from the millions of pounds spent on private contracts for the delivery of essential services, to the contracts involved in renting out or selling of land or buildings.
Open Contracting is the simple idea that when contracting processes and contracts themselves are transparent and accessible, we get better scrutiny, better services and better decisions.
With case studies from Gloucestershire, and sharing experiences from open contracting around the world, this session will look at policies and practical actions to open up the black box of procurement – and to engage citizens in key decision making.
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About the workshop hosts
Tim Davies
@timdavies
Open Data Services Co-operative
Tim is a member of Open Data Services Co-operative, and works on Open Contracting across the world. Tim co-maintains the global Open Contracting Data Standard, and supporting governments from Mexico to Moldova to implement systems for publication of structured data on their contracting processes. He is a member of the UK Open Government Civil Society Network steering group, and is passionate about connecting open government policy and local community action. Tim will bring an overview picture of what open contracting is, and how it could be used to address local democratic deficits in the UK.
Cllr Rachel Smith
@stroudsing
Gloucestershire County Council
Rachel splits her time between working as a registered music therapist, and as a county councillor, elected to Gloucestershire County Council in May 2017. Rachel campaigned on transparency in public contracting, and is a member of the authority’s open contracting advisory group – set-up in response to a council motion calling for greater transparency. She has been working to address green issues through procurement. Rachel will bring reflections on the practice, and practical challenges, of securing greater support for open contracting in local government.
We are Generation D
Strengthening our local democracy is something that we can only do together. Democracy needs to work better for everyone, all the time, win or lose. We think that the stronger local democracy we all want and deserve could be just around the corner. And we don’t need a tardis to get there. We just need each other.
The future of local democracy starts with us. So let’s talk about our democratic generation. Let’s talk about our regeneration.
But let’s not stop at the talking.
