Senior staff salaries, spending over £500 and audits should all be regularly published by councils, according to the final code of practice on data transparency.
Following a consultation period earlier this year, the Department for Communities and Local Government yesterday issued the finalversion of the voluntary code.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: ‘Central government has a role in ensuring that local people can exercise their right to know how their money is being spent and have the information they need to question that spending.’
He said members of the public ‘shouldn't have to be data experts to see and understand’ information published.
Ministers also repeated that they were ‘minded to make the code a legally binding requirement’, which could open local authorities to legal action if they failed to comply. However, this step would require further consultation.
The provisions in the code apply to all councils, including parishes, with a gross annual income or expenditure of £200,000 or more. National park, fire and rescue, integrated transport and police authorities will also be covered, as well as joint authorities of any kind.
Publication requirements include items of spending worth more than £500 and the salaries, job descriptions and budgets of employees paid more than £58,200, together with the total salary cost of all staff who report to them.
Councils will also have to provide information on the ratio between the highest salary and the average of the whole workforce, as well as councillors’ allowances and expenses.
Authorities will also have to publish inspection and audit reports and the locations of publicly owned land and buildings.
To reduce the risk of fraud arising from data publication, the code says authorities should use the CIPFA publication Managing the risk of fraud – actions to counter fraud and corruption.
The code is built around the idea of ‘armchair auditors’. First advanced by Pickles last year, this is based on the belief that encouraging members of the public to comb through information will provide an effective check on waste.
Releasing information ‘could provide a wealth of local knowledge and spark more improvements in the way services are delivered’, the DCLG said. It will also ‘open up new possibilities for real-time analysis and response and opportunities for small businesses to enter new markets’.
