proposes that decisions not to disclose documents should be issued in writing so as to make it easier to appeal against them.
The Inquiry’s analysis of measures that could promote increased re-use has resulted in a number of proposals. As the Act on the re-use of public administration documents is in itself not sufficient to advance developments, the Government needs to direct agencies so that they take the measures necessary for making their information easier to re-use.
An important part of this governance is deciding how agencies are allowed to charge for their documents. In this regard, the Government must take into account the new main rule for fees. This governance should also focus on the fact that some agencies’ culture and attitudes towards re-use may need to change. For the Government to be able to govern agencies and take appropriate measures, developments need to be monitored and the various measures need to be evaluated.
To make re-use easier, the Inquiry considers that continued measures are needed to standardise agencies’ information, e.g. with regard to the concepts and terms used when information is presented. The Inquiry proposes that a shared portal be established that could function as a point of entry to information held by various parts of the public sector.
Essentially all government agencies and municipalities need to take measures to comply with the rules proposed by the Inquiry. In support of this, clear and up-to-date guidelines are needed that describe the regulations and which measures should or can be taken to help move developments in the right direction.
The Inquiry proposes that a number of agencies be given new tasks as a result of the various proposals. In most cases these would be minor changes with a clear link to the agency’s current assignment. This applies to the National Financial Management Authority and the Swedish Competition Authority. The Inquiry proposes that the National Archives be given responsibility for the shared portal and for drawing up regulations on how government agencies are to provide information about the documents they are able to make available for re-use.
