A public survey was launched yesterday as the Met work towards greater data transparency.

The Met are working with the Open Data Institute to develop a strategy for making more of their data publicly accessible.

The initial stage of the process is a public survey, open until May 27, aimed at determining what type of data the public want to have access to. There will also be the chance to get involved in a focus group.

This will be followed by interviews with key people inside and outside the Met, and an analysis of the research accompanied by recommendations. A final strategy will then be published this year.

The survey asks participants the type of data they would like to access and in what capacity as well as to what extent they trust data published by the Met. 

The project will not only gather data on what information the public want to access, but will also work with the force on understanding and managing the challenges that come with opening the data up.

In 2021, the force received almost 5,000 Freedom of Information requests.

The Met has committed to making relevant equalities data available, including crime and incident data and data on police duties. This initiative forms part of that commitment.

The Met’s Director of Data, Aimee Reed, said: “We are committed to ensuring the Met is transparent about what we do to keep people in London safe and how we do that. We believe being transparent is crucial to ensuring we have the trust of the people we serve, and there are already numerous ways the public can access information and data about the Met, including on its website and through Freedom of Information Act requests.

“In the future, our aim is to enable the public, academics and our partners to access more of the data we collect – where it is ethical and lawful to do so – to better support us in understanding how we can improve the service we give to London.”

Matt Davies, Senior Policy Advisor at Open Data Institute told Police Oracle: “Having more data available, helps us to know whether police time has been well-used, if there’s no data, that limits the claims and analysis that can be made.

“Speaking more generally, not just about the Met, there are a number of issues around the use of data across public services and across the public sector.”

You can access the survey here.