News from mySociety

Democracy

Representing MPs' votes fairly

We quite often get messages from MPs — of every political stripe — asking about our representation of their voting records on TheyWorkForYou. But last month was the first time that a piece in the Times and several tweets presaged the actual arrival of the email in our inbox... and it's the first time such a request has been co-signed by 50 members of the correspondent's party.

So, while we ordinarily carry on such conversations behind the scenes, we thought we'd reply to this one in public.

Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, was concerned about how we represent his voting record on measures to prevent climate change. You can see the full correspondence here, but in short: two of the identified votes are ones we haven't yet classified (but will); we don't currently include votes on the Queen's Speech to any voting stance; and a voting record builds up over time as the MP participates in more votes.

How to write to your MP

Talking of correspondence with our elected politicians, Youth Citizen Service have put together this short video to help inform young people how and when it is best to get in touch.

You might want to show it to any teens you know who are feeling disenfranchised or who want to make change but don't know where to begin.

Climate

Good News Day: show the love 

Good news? Remember that?! Well, maybe it's time to make some happen.

We're joining in with the Climate Coalition's campaign to #ShowTheLove on Friday February 12: let's ask politicians to put aside their differences and tackle the climate crisis.

Will you join in? We've written up a super easy list of ways you can get involved and help make real change for the climate, in our blog post here.

Events

Got something to show and tell at TICTeC?

Oh, how we long to be planning our usual in-person TICTeC conference for this spring!

In the absence of that possibility, we can still get together virtually for quick, energising bursts of inspiration and knowledge-sharing.

That's the thinking behind our forthcoming series of TICTeC Show and Tells, and, if you've got something to share with the Civic Tech community now is the time to apply. All the details are here.

Transparency

FOI from outside the UK

It had us worried for a moment there, but... apparently it's all going to be all right. People outside the UK can use our FOI Act to request information, just as was always intended.

We'll still be keeping our eyes and ears open for any further details. For us, the biggest mystery about all this is: what was the impetus for this tribunal?

Looking for a transparency-focused European organisation

We've got the opportunity to help out one organisation based in Europe, in setting up their own Freedom of Information website on our Alaveteli platform.

There are a few conditions attached, so have a read of our blog post and then, if you know any suitable candidates, please let them know!

What we're reading

• Private firms with massive covid contracts should be open to scrutiny, says the ICO.
• Snook make the very good point that environmental concerns need to guide our actions everywhere, even in service design.
• One question around events in Washington last month was: were cops among the people who stormed the Capitol? American FOI platform Muckrock is hosting an ingenious exploration of that.
• Great idea, but will it work? A marketplace for part-used digital subscriptions.
• This happened a while back apparently, but it's still an unimpressive abuse of Wikipedia for marketing purposes.
• Enjoy being the very first person to see things from the Science Museum online.

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