Data sources
Everything on UKGovscan comes from an official public source or an established republisher of official records. This page lists them, and says how figures are treated.
How figures are treated
- Records are shown as their publisher released them. We do not change figures. Where a value looks like a data-entry error at source, we flag it rather than correct it.
- Totals are calculated from the underlying records and can differ from official statistics, because of methodology, date ranges and gaps in the source data.
- Records are joined on official identifiers wherever they exist, such as a company number. Two people are treated as the same person only where an identifier or corroborating data supports it; a name alone is shown as an unconfirmed link.
- Where the same company appears in the lobbying register and on a contract award, both are shown. Contract values are split evenly between the suppliers named on an award. That is co-occurrence, not cause and effect.
- Appearing in the data does not imply wrongdoing. Check the linked source before relying on or publishing a figure. If something looks wrong, report it.
Licences
Most of the data is released under the Open Government Licence v3.0 or the Open Parliament Licence. Historical registers of interests from mySociety are under CC BY 4.0.
Sources
Procurement and spending
- Contracts: Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, Public Contracts Scotland and Sell2Wales, 2019 to date
- Central government spending: GOV.UK departmental payments over £25,000
- Council spending: each council’s own published transaction-level spending files
- Council finances: MHCLG revenue outturn and financial health data
Companies and donations
- Companies: Companies House for company details, officers, persons with significant control, charges and accounts
- Political donations and loans: the Electoral Commission register
Charities and grants
- England and Wales: the Charity Commission register, including financials, trustees, pay bands and government-funding declarations
- Scotland: OSCR
- Northern Ireland: the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
- Grants: 360Giving and UKRI Gateway to Research
Parliament and lobbying
- MPs, peers and ministers: the Parliament Members API, including committees and government posts
- Registers of interests: the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and the Lords register, with historical registers from mySociety
- Expenses and staffing: IPSA, 2010 to date
- Lobbying: the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists register and quarterly returns, and departmental releases of ministerial meetings and gifts
Schools
- Directory: Get Information About Schools
- Funding, census, attainment and workforce: DfE Explore Education Statistics
- Inspections: Ofsted
Aid and public services
- Foreign aid: the IATI Datastore for project-level FCDO data and the OECD DAC for departmental flows
- Crime: data.police.uk
- Benefits: DWP Stat-Xplore
- Care providers: the Care Quality Commission
- Deprivation, population and public finances: the Indices of Deprivation and the ONS