Submission to House of Commons Public Accounts Committee inquiry: Challenges in using data across Government

We have submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the challenges of using data across Government.

FCC’s submission focuses upon the National Audit Office’s recent report and endorses the view that:

• data controlled and/or generated with government should be treated as a strategic asset and protected, enhanced and deployed accordingly;
• data, insights, and tools controlled and/or generated by publicly funded and accountable bodies should be subject to a balance sheet review and feature on the National Balance Sheet and/or in the Whole of Government Accounts;
• government has done too little to incentivise ‘data quality by design’ but must, also, increase investment with a view to enhancing data assets of national significance if the UK is to remain competitive from a global perspective;
• there has been a lack of leadership but, also, cross-government coordination with a view to harnessing the value of data assets generated by or with publicly accountable bodies.