Case Study: West Sussex County Council achieves greater transparency and performance-driven budgeting with Socrata

Open Data Brings West Sussex Benefits Beyond Their Expectations

West Sussex County Council adopted the Socrata open-data platform in 2014 to boost transparency and accountability amid tighter public budgets. The council sought to move away from paper reports and opaque performance metrics so residents could see how taxes were spent and how programmes were performing.

Publishing a live performance dashboard transformed culture and decision-making: targets became more realistic, meetings focused on outcomes rather than cash spent, and budgeting was driven by desired results. The public-facing site attracted over a million visits, cut printing and staff time, improved internal communication of goals, and encouraged more honest conversations about performance and resource prioritisation.

West Sussex County Council

Louise Goldsmith

Leader, West Sussex County Council