Sign our petition for annual reports on government digital spending

We’ve launched a petition calling for greater transparency in UK government digital spending.

Previously, we’ve written about the government’s AI Skills Hub, an expensive, inaccessible website that raises questions about how it was awarded, funded and delivered.

But the AI Skills Hub is not an outlier. There are other government-funded digital projects that are expensive, exclude people, and lack a clear user need or public benefit. There is no consistent way to understand why these projects are awarded, what they cost, whether they deliver value for money, or who is accountable. This is why we have launched this petition, so the public can have greater transparency over how their money is spent on digital projects.

Parliament sets a strict word limit when submitting a petition, so we had to cut a lot of what we wanted to say. Below is a little more context.

What we're asking for

We want the UK government to make it law that every department publishes an annual report on its digital projects, including websites, apps and campaigns funded by public money.

Each digital project report should explain:

• why the project exists (the user need, who it’s for, and the public benefit)
• what it cost and who was involved (resources, tools, people) 
• whether it delivered value for money and works for people who need it (success measures and results)
• whether it’s accessible (meets WCAG 2.1 AA, the standard required for UK government digital services)
• what happens if things go wrong (a plan to fix it and who is accountable).

Why this is needed

Right now, this information is not publicly available. You can only find basic details on GOV.UK’s Find a Tender service. The AI Skills Hub listing shows who commissioned it, who was awarded the contract (PwC), and how much it cost (£4.1m). But it doesn’t explain why the project exists, who it's for, how it will be delivered, or what success looks like. Without this information, it’s difficult to assess whether public money has been spent well.

Why this matters

There are many valuable digital services across government, used by millions of people, and built by skilled teams applying GOV.UK’s Service Standard.

But some digital projects are commissioned without a clear user need or proper scrutiny. These can end up being expensive, inaccessible, and deliver little value. There is no consistent way to surface these projects or learn from them. The reports we're petitioning for would change that.

If departments know they will have to explain the need, cost, accessibility and outcomes of all digital projects, better decisions are more likely from the start.

Sign the petition

We need 10,000 signatures to get a government response.

If this matters to you, please sign and share the petition: Require UK government departments to publish annual reports on digital projects