Pickles sets out council transparency plans

7 Jun 10
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has published a list of requirements on councils to increase transparency and accountability in local government
By David Williams

7 June 2010

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has published a list of requirements on councils to increase transparency and accountability in local government.

The measures, which include the much-trailed obligation to publish every item of spending over £500, are backed by the Local Government Association.
 
Pickles set out the plans in a letter to councils on June 5, claiming they would ‘revolutionise local government’.

He expects councils to begin publishing details on spending from September, and will require them to do so as a matter of course from the beginning of next year. He hopes the measure will act as a spur to councils to cut waste and spend money more efficiently.

The communities secretary also intends to consult councils on whether more details of senior staff salaries and job descriptions should be published online, along with more data on councillors’ expenses.

And he wants councils to publish information on success of services such as recycling rates, along with the minutes from meetings, and licensing and planning decisions.

Although much of this information can already be found on council websites, Pickles is anxious that it becomes more accessible and easier for outside organisations to republish, reuse or reinterpret for themselves.

‘Local people should be able to hold politicians and public bodies to account over how their hard-earnt cash is being spent,’ said Pickles.

‘The swift and simple changes we are calling for will unleash an army of armchair auditors and quite rightly make those charged with doling out the pennies stop and think twice about whether they are getting value for money.’

He also claims the move will encourage entrepreneurs, and put smaller local organisations in a stronger position to pitch for contracts.

Baroness Margaret Eaton, chair of the Local Government Association, added that councils were ‘absolutely committed’ to the highest standards of transparency.

‘All public bodies must be scrutinised for the spending decisions they make, and the LGA will work with councils to pioneer an approach of openness and accountability.’

Pickles’ move came the day after the government posted the Treasury’s Combined Online Information System online, making an extensive spending spreadsheet with millions of rows of data publicly available for the first time.

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