Apart from Nottingham every local council now publishes their procurement spending. That is a huge achievement for the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and it will be fascinating to see if for all their bluster the Labour Party promise to end that requirement for transparency.
But which councils are really embracing transparency and making the spending intelliigible? Which ones are putting it in categories and suub categories so we can get a true grasp of where the mney is going? Which councils are making relevant comparisons with other councils viable.
For this there is a roll of honour for the following 33 councils who have had the self confidence to signup with Spikes Cavell's Spotlight on Spend initiative. Not all these councils are Conservative. Even those that are Conservative are doubtless far from perfect in all sorts of respects. But to have taken on the challenge spending transparency in this way shows the right attitude.
They are: