Nottingham is continuing to hold out as the only council in England to keep its spending secret. It's claiming it would have to recruit extra staff and that the complexity would be a "minefield." Why have other councils been able to manage without such problems? For that matter how has the DCLG itself managed it? […]
An interesting Parliamentary Question: Trade Unions Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidelines his Department issues to local authorities on payments to trade unions (a) in cash and (b) in kind. Robert Neill: No guidance was issued by the last Government. Individual councils, in their role as […]
Last July I noted how Labour-run Harrow Council rejected a Conservative proposal for transparency – including spending transparency. All the heartening therefore to read this interview in The Lawyer with the Council's legal head, Hugh Peart, which indicates a change of heart. He makes a number of good points. The cost of transparency should be […]
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 […]
Hilary Benn has opposed the Coalition Government’s transparency measure to ensure all local authorities publish expenditure over £500. On a visit to Labour workers in Derby, the shadow Leader of the House of Commons backed Nottingham City Council’s refusal to let local taxpayers see where it spends their money. In doing so he opposed the […]
The requirement for spending transparency only applies to English local authorities. But this interesting exchange in Parliament yesterday, already noted by Jonathan, shows that two Welsh councils have chosen to open the books as well: Alun Cairns: Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating and recognising the Vale of Glamorgan council, which is […]
Fifty years ago this month, Mrs Thatcher’s maiden speech introduced a Private Members’ Bill which would ultimately make councils open up their meetings to the press and public. As she argued at the time, “the public has the right, in the first instance, to know what its elected representatives are doing”. That principle is still […]
Tim Montgomerie Eric Pickles and Bob Neill have issued guidance to local authorities, urging them to allow citizen journalists and bloggers to have full access to public council meetings. Mr Pickles commented: “Fifty years ago, Margaret Thatcher changed the law to make councils open their meetings to the press and public. This principle of openness […]
Tim Montgomerie As the video above, from Sky, makes clear some Tory councils are now complaining about the front-loaded cuts being imposed by Eric Pickles. Some will be doing this in order to curry favour with local voters. They'll now be able to tell their voters that "we didn't take these cuts without complaint". Let […]
I have written before about the mutual admiration society I have formed with Cllr Steven Bridgett, an independent Lib Dem councillor on Northumberland County Council. The BBC reports that Cllr Bridgett has been getting his teeth into his council's spending data – which has been brought into the open under transparency rules. As it is raw data, Cllr Bridgett has […]
Sir Robin Wales, the directly elected Labour Mayor of Newham replies to criticism from Conservatives in his borough earlier this week As the Labour Mayor of Newham you might be surprised to find me writing on a Conservative blog. I want to challenge the claims made by the East Ham Conservatives about ‘wasteful’ spending at […]
East Ham Conservatives have identified more than a quarter of a million pounds worth of waste at the Town Hall for just one month, following new rules that require Newham Council to publish all spending over £500. The Conservatives have scoured the spending records covering late November and early December 2010 to find that despite job […]
A second radical phase in the Government's drive for greater openness will shine the torch of transparency on Town Hall middle management across the country, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles will announce today. Over ninety five per cent of councils have published their spending data over £500 online. Latest reports to the Department show 346 […]
Leeds City Council (Labour-run with support from a couple of Green Party councillors) is spending nearly half a million pounds a month on taxis. Cllr Alan Lamb, Shadow Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “Many other councils opened their books months ago and I’m delighted that Leeds has belatedly followed suit. The council needs to […]
Charlton Heston said they could only prise his gun from his "cold, dead hands." The attitude of Labour-run Nottingham City Council on allowing residents to know how their money is spent is not quite as hawkish. But they are deliberately flouting the requirement. As mentioned yesterday the great majority of the 353 councils have complied. The […]