Fields provided by JobcentrePlus internal API

Dear Sir or Madam,

I understand that JobcentrePlus's website has an interface (API) by
which JCP job listings are displayed on Directgov, as well as on
the websites of partners selected by DWP.

I would like to request:

- The documentation that describes the fields that are provided by
this API.

- A list of the bodies which have access to this API, whether they
be government departments, agencies or private companies.

Yours faithfully,

Harry Metcalfe

Your Ref: 528

Dear sir/madam,

I would like to request an internal review for my freedom of
information request on the JobCentre Plus API.

First – to clarify – the API documentation I would like to request
is that of the Jobs & Skills API, not the IJB API.

Second, I am not at all interested in technical details about the
operation of the API, any configuration information or any other
information of an operational nature. I am only interested in a
list of the fields that are provided by the API; ie, what are the
pieces of data that are communicated for each available job?

Third, I am interested in this information because I suspect that
the database of jobs held by JobCentre Plus could be extremely
valuable if released to the public – with any and all personal data
removed – for reuse and innovation. Before knowing if this would be
useful, I need to know what data is actually held.

There is an immense public interest in making non-personal data
held by government available to the general public, as has been
repeatedly highlighted by the Power of Information Taskforce and
the Office of Public Sector Information.

Releasing a list of the fields provided by the API, with no other
supporting technical information, presents no credible threat at
all to DWP's information security.

To summarise:

- I am only interested in information about the J&S API, which is
already available to many parties;

- I am only interested in a list of fields, not in any other
operational information;

- I hope that the release of this information may catalyse public
support for resources to develop a public version of your API to
facilitate free reuse of information about jobs by the general
public, in which there is a substantial public interest;

- A list of fields alone does not present any threat to DWP's
information security.

I very much hope that your review will look upon this request
favourably.

Yours Faithfully,

Harry Metcalfe