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Good practice Imported

The UK's Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard — Mandatory Public Registers for Government AI

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Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 35% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

The UK's Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard requires public bodies to publish a standard record per algorithmic tool. Only 23 records existed by December 2024, but reporting became mandatory for departments from May 2025, and the register has grown since.

23
ATRS records published (by 17 December 2024)
The UK's Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard — Mandatory Public Registers for Government AI

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Government Digital Service / Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)
Period
2023-present
Keywords
digital government, algorithmic transparency, public administration

Context

The UK's Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) asks public sector bodies to publish a plain-language record for every algorithmic tool that materially affects a citizen-facing decision or service — what the tool does, who built it, what data it uses, and what human oversight exists. It was piloted by the Government Digital Service (then the Central Digital and Data Office) from 2021 and formally launched in January 2023.

Activities

From May 2025 the government made ATRS reporting mandatory for all central departments and for arm's-length bodies that deliver public or frontline services.

Results

Adoption started slowly: by 17 December 2024 only 23 ATRS records had been published on the GOV.UK hub, despite far more algorithmic systems being in use across government. The count of published records has climbed since May 2025 as departments work through a backlog of undisclosed tools.

Conclusions

The register is self-reported: each organisation writes and publishes its own record, and there is no independent audit confirming that every qualifying algorithm has in fact been disclosed, so the true gap between recorded and deployed tools remains unknown.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Primarily a documentation/reporting obligation on existing government bodies; no major capital expenditure described.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Piloted from 2021, formally launched January 2023, made mandatory for central departments and arm's-length bodies from May 2025.
Staffing & skills
Government Digital Service / Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Central departments and arm's-length public bodies (each authors and publishes its own record)

Conditions for success

  • A central template and hub (GOV.UK) for publishing standardised plain-language records
  • A mandatory reporting requirement to drive coverage beyond voluntary pilots
  • Departmental capacity to identify and document all qualifying algorithmic tools

Common failure modes

  • Adoption started slowly: only 23 records existed by December 2024 despite many more algorithmic systems in government use
  • Self-reported register with no independent audit confirming completeness

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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