The poor quality of much of government’s published data on contracts reduces transparency and makes it harder to identify and promote best practice. Better information would allow government to analyse how many contracts different departments award to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) or strategic suppliers. Public bodies are required to publish large amounts of information on prospective and awarded contracts. Basic information on which procurement route was used was missing for 6% of contracts recorded on Contracts Finder, one of two public contract databases, from 2018 to 2022. Information on other aspects of contracts is collected inconsistently between Contracts Finder and Find a Tender, and most departments do not consistently publish all contracts within the required time.11