UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
Laying the foundations for better local public services
The MHCLG Local Digital team is working to increase the use of data and API standards in local government. This is part of our commitment to use open standards where they exist and contribute to their creation where they do not.
On this page, you can read about our current data and API standards work as well as projects we’ve supported previously.
One challenge councils face is unconnected technology solutions that can’t share data with each other. This issue could be addressed by describing data in a consistent way between services, which we refer to as a data standard. Ideally, this would be an open standard, that enables data to be shared through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). Standardising the way local government uses, reuses and shares data can lead to:
We recently kicked off a discovery project that explores what a framework for the widespread adoption of standards may look like. Our goal is to find out how to drive meaningful impact across the local government sector to enhance data access, improve service delivery and interoperability, and promote innovation.
By engaging with central and local government, the private sector and other sector organisations, we aim to understand the landscape and clearly define our role in standards creation, adoption and ownership. This builds upon our previous exploration into scaling data standards to support local government. The result of which was a detailed report that made recommendations for any central government department looking to introduce new standards and service patterns.
How to get involved
We will be holding an open ‘Show and Tell’ on 17 October 2024 for anyone wanting to hear more about our work. Complete this form to receive joining instructions. If you want to take part in our research into the standards landscape, provide your contact details via this form and we will get in touch.
In our role as ‘steward’, we want to use our position to influence change when it comes to data standards. We’re making additional investment in standards to ensure they scale and reach their full potential.
We are leading the charge in increasing the adoption of the Open Referral UK data standard (ORUK) with our ambitious three year plan to deliver millions in annual savings for councils. ORUK provides a consistent way of recording and sharing information about services. It’s endorsed by the Cabinet Office’s Data Standards Authority and is already supporting a growing number of government bodies to publish, find and use reliable service information.
We’ve assembled a cross-government steering group to help drive this mission. This group of changemakers are working with other key stakeholders to promote innovation across the sector and be the catalyst for change within their own organisations.
We’ll be hosting regular events to tell you everything you need to know about the standard and how to adopt it. We’ll also provide tools to help you on your ORUK adoption journey.
From 2020 to 2023, Local Digital funded the SAVVI project. Hosted by Tameside Council, SAVVI has defined processes, standards and approaches to data sharing that support the early identification of vulnerable people. This helps the early identification of vulnerable people to provide timely support, better data sharing and interoperability, and enhanced coordination amongst multiple agencies.
At present, Local Digital are continuing to support the project by working closely with the iStandUK board and contributing towards SAVVI’s roll out.
SAVVI is currently working with the Open Referral UK data standard to create joined up ecosystems of data for frontline professionals.
In July, SAVVI published a playbook to help organisations identify and support vulnerable individuals more effectively. Find out more and access the SAVVI Playbook.
We are at the early stages of a plan to transform the housing sector through improved data. Our vision is of a sector that understands its data, provides high quality and efficient services, and delivers great outcomes for tenants and communities.
In our discovery and alpha phases, we developed a broad picture of the issues associated with data in housing services. In our role as ‘steward of the sector’, we want to use our position to influence change.
We want to:
Building a community
We’re establishing a long-term collaborative community, with devolved ownership that empowers experts in the sector.
The community has 3 working groups:
