The UK's Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard became mandatory for all central government departments in February 2024. Published records grew from 7 at launch to 59 by May 2025, though an official audit found many more AI tools remain unrecorded.
7 records
Published register records at launch (November 2021)
23 records
Published register records (December 2024)
59 records
Published register records (May 2025)
53 records
Records added in preceding 12 months (June 2024 – May 2025)
Details
Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Central Digital and Data Office, Cabinet Office
Period
2021–present (mandatory since Feb 2024)
Keywords
digital government, AI governance, transparency, public administration
Context
The UK's Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS), introduced by the Government Digital Service in November 2021 and made mandatory for central government departments in February 2024, requires departments to publicly document their use of algorithmic and AI tools in a standardized public register.
Activities
The Central Digital and Data Office promotes and maintains the standard; a formal scope-and-exemptions policy was published in December 2024, and Version 4 of the guidance was released in May 2025. Published records include Network Rail's public-inquiry chatbot, Oak National Academy's 'Aila' lesson-planning assistant, the Home Office's CARS(V) visa-application router, and NICE's 'NORMA' guidance-search tool.
Results
The register grew from 7 published records at launch to about 23 by December 2024 and 59 by May 2025 (53 added in the preceding 12 months). Independent audits found that considerably more AI tools are in live use across government than appear in the register, indicating a compliance gap between the mandate and actual practice.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
Central Digital and Data Office (Cabinet Office) administers the standard, Individual departments complete their own records, National Audit Office and independent legal analysts (Burges Salmon) provide external scrutiny
Conditions for success
Clear mandatory scope-and-exemptions policy
Iterative guidance versions (Version 4 in 2025) to clarify requirements
External audit function to check compliance
Common failure modes
Independent audits found considerably more AI tools in live government use than appear in the register — a mandate/compliance gap
Where it fits
Governance type
central government transparency mandate
Scale
national
Income level
high-income
Do you run this practice?
Claim it —
verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
The UK's Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard requires central government bodies to publish structured records of algorithmic tools that significantly influence …
