Advocates of transparency, whether NGOs, think tanks or members of the public, tend to frame the benefits of government publishing more information from the position of achieving a better-informed public. Far less common is discussion of how transparency affects those inside government – ministers, special advisers, civil servants and other public sector workers – and how it can be used to their benefit. That is the focus of this report.

Some government information will, of course, rarely, if ever, be made public – certain national security information or personal data, for example. But in this report, the authors identify several benefits of transparency that they believe help government achieve its objectives or improve its processes.