{"id":1248,"date":"2026-07-27T09:41:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T08:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/open-government-partnership\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2026-07-27T09:51:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T08:51:34","slug":"improving-transparency-through-a-digital-fiscal-portal-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/open-government-partnership\/2026\/07\/27\/improving-transparency-through-a-digital-fiscal-portal-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving transparency through a digital fiscal portal service: a learning Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Key terms<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cfiscal\u00a0information\u201d\u00a0is the\u00a0data related to government revenue, tax, and public spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cdigital\u00a0fiscal portal service\u201d is an online space where information about government budgets and finances can be easily accessed.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“Following\u00a0the money” from budget to impact. Hear from Jennie Barugh & Lucy McTernan,\u00a0government\u00a0and civil society\u00a0Co-Chairs of the Open Government Fiscal Transparency Commitment Oversight Group as they dive into the\u00a0successes\u00a0and challenges\u00a0of\u00a0developing\u00a0a digital fiscal portal\u00a0service\u00a0for Scotland.<\/p>\n

Understanding the problem<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We have\u00a0consistently\u00a0heard how difficult it is to follow the story of public finances\u00a0over time.<\/p>\n

People using\u00a0the government\u2019s fiscal information\u00a0have\u00a0told us they need\u00a0two\u00a0things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. accessible and reusable data,\u00a0to scrutinise government decision-making.<\/li>\n
  2. clear\u00a0explanations\u00a0of what the data means.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cfiscal\u00a0information\u201d means the data related to government revenue, tax, and public spending\u00a0e.g.\u00a0the government\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

    In 2021 this work became part of Scottish Government’s\u00a0second\u00a0Open Government Action Plan.\u00a0We\u00a0produced\u00a0the Fiscal Transparency Discovery Report<\/a>. It\u00a0outlined in detail\u00a0the issues\u00a0users of the government\u2019s fiscal information\u00a0were facing.<\/p>\n

    It also\u00a0identified\u00a0a potential solution that other countries had already started using,\u00a0a digital fiscal portal\u00a0service.<\/p>\n

    Developing the portal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    The\u00a0third\u00a0Open Government Action Plan gave us an opportunity to\u00a0explore how we\u00a0might\u00a0develop a fiscal\u00a0portal.\u00a0We committed to bring\u00a0together and\u00a0improve the accessibility, and presentation of the government\u2019s current fiscal data over time.<\/p>\n

    In early 2023\u00a0our fiscal portal project\u00a0developed an\u00a0Alpha prototype\u00a0using data on infrastructure investment,\u00a0where we could test our assumptions.<\/p>\n

    It confirmed the value in visualising raw data in clear and presentable ways.\u00a0It also\u00a0identified\u00a0limitations due to the quality and\u00a0consistency of the underlying data\u00a0and the manual input\u00a0required\u00a0as a result.<\/p>\n

    During the Beta phase, we benefited from standardised reporting formats to track changes over time using\u00a0OECD\u2019s international standard of Classification of Functions of Government<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    As a result,\u00a0we\u00a0delivered a\u00a0working\u00a0fiscal portal using current Scottish Budget data in early 2024.<\/p>\n

    Challenges<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Unfortunately,\u00a0it\u00a0required\u00a0significant manual input to achieve the\u00a0necessary formats\u00a0to produce this version of a portal.<\/p>\n

    Without improvements to our underlying\u00a0 data\u00a0and\u00a0systems,\u00a0maintaining\u00a0up-to-date data on a portal is time-consuming.<\/p>\n

    This meant further development of a portal\u00a0would\u00a0become more complex and technically difficult.<\/p>\n

    After careful consideration,\u00a0we took the decision\u00a0to pause\u00a0further work on a\u00a0fiscal portal until internal systems and resource capabilities\u00a0were\u00a0able to support it in a cost-effective way.<\/p>\n

    Lessons learned\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Through our work exploring a fiscal portal\u00a0solution\u00a0we learned:<\/p>\n