Open Data Home Page

Data is information that has been gathered. This is done by both local and central government. A collection of data is known as a dataset. This can cover a range of subjects. For example, it can cover the names of ward councillors, election results and all spend over £500 by a local authority.

Open data is information presented in a machine readable format so that it can be read as well as being re-used and repurposed.

It can help transparency. It can help accountability. It can help secure value for money and savings.

This is supported by Government, Communities and Local Government.  Minister Eric Pickles asked local government to publish all council spending over £500 as part of a spending transparency project.

Anyone. You can download the information. You are free to use this data in a wide variety of applications and we licence use in accordance with the same licence as the Government’s own data repository data.gov.uk  http://data.gov.uk/terms-and-conditions

This means that a piece of information has been removed from publication. This can be for a number of reasons set out by Government. This could be because the information is personal data and could identify an individual, such as a foster carer, a location of a women’s refuge, a council tax benefit recipient or could be information that is commercially confidential.

In the spirit of openness, we are looking to make public answers that arise from open data. This will help reduce the need for FOI.

We are looking to expand the amount of data available in an open data format and we are looking to update regularly.

Most subsequent queries may well be solved by a simple email which you can send to: InformationRights@walsall.gov.uk  

For more information on the Governments transparency agenda;

UK government data repository