By Vivienne Russell | 28 June 2011
Whitehall should be keeping pace with town halls and publishing items of expenditure above £500, local government leaders said today.The Local Government Association is highlighting the fact that central government departments are only required to publish spending details above £25,000, when for councils the threshold is £500.
An LGA analysis of Whitehall spending disclosure has found that eight departments were exceeding this requirement and publishing spending details above £500. But this means that huge quantities of public money remain unaccounted for, the LGA said.
It noted that none of the four biggest spending Whitehall departments – the departments of health, education and work & pensions, and the Ministry of Defence – publish spending details at the lower threshold.
LGA chair Baroness Margaret Eaton said: ‘A pound is worth the same whether it is spent by the town hall or Whitehall and the public has every right to know how civil servants are spending their taxes. Well done to those departments that are keeping pace with councils but too many are lagging behind.
‘As ministers have said in the past, sunshine is the best disinfectant. It’s time for all government departments to lift their game to match local authority transparency. They should throw open their books to reveal details of all spending over £500.’
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: 'We are already the most transparent government ever. But there is more to do: we want to publish more types of open data, and publish it in a way that can re-used for the public good and be scrutinised more easily.
'In DCLG, ministers have intentionally published at £500 to show councils how transparency cuts waste and does not have to cost money.
'Where data is readily available, Whitehall departments are encouraged to adopt a lower threshold for publication, and many have done so.'
