Taxpayers to see how their money has been spent
It will now be easier for taxpayers to scrutinise how their money has been spent, Communities Secretary John Denham today announced.
From today everyone can go to a brand new website and look at spending in any area of England simply by clicking on and scrolling over maps. At the touch of a button it will be clear to see how taxpayers money was spent locally and by which public bodies.
The new digital presentation of the Local Spending Report transfers reams and reams of inaccessible data previously locked in spreadsheets into web based formats that local people can readily interrogate and scrutinise. This includes information on funding for police, fire, health and local authorities.
Greater transparency will make it easier to look right across all the local services in an area and spot evidence of duplication or waste. It will help all local authorities to ‘health check’ whether public money going into the area is delivering value for money and delivering the very best services.
Alongside the new website, proposals for substantially increasing and updating the amount of information available in the next Local Spending Report are outlined in a new consultation paper released today. The consultation also seeks views on the new presentation and future direction for these Reports.
The changes will help ensure local authorities are well placed to develop a Total Place approach to services by taking a fundamental look at all the money going into the area and make the most of new freedoms and flexibilities the Government is delivering to improve services whilst generating savings.
Ministers hope that freeing up this data will drive innovation and fresh thinking by providing entrepreneurs, businesses, customers, professionals and suppliers with the data they need to identify business opportunities or problems and come up with new solutions.
Communities Secretary John Denham said:
"Taxpayers have a right to know how their hard earned money is being spent and better, smarter data is crucial to driving down costs and increasing innovation.
"The changes today are about making it easier for citizens and councils alike to access at the touch of a button the information they need to scrutinise and challenge how money is being spent."
The changes to the way Local Spend Reports are presented are part and parcel of wider changes being spearheaded by government to make public data public.
An independent Local Public Data Panel, led by Professor Nigel Shadbolt, has been set up by John Denham to champion the public data agenda at the local level. It will promote the release of local public data and information sharing, accelerate progress in agreeing common standards for data released into the public sphere, and make local public services better understood and more accessible.
