www.communities.gov.uk

Local government transparency

Getting council business out in the open will revolutionise local government and enable the Big Society. Transparency is the foundation of accountability. It is also a powerful means of promoting efficiency, without requiring the heavy-handed intervention of an unaccountable bureaucracy.

Local people should be able to hold politicians and public bodies to account over how their council tax is being spent, and decisions made on their behalf. This will work in tandem with decentralisation to foster a new spirit of local enterprise; allowing local institutions to compete, innovate and diversify increasing the accountability of councils to their residents.

Background

This Government is committed to increasing transparency across Whitehall and local authorities in order to make data more readily available to the citizen and allow them to hold service providers to account.

Not only will transparency allow people to see where their money goes and what it delivers, throwing open the council books will also open the door to new businesses and encourage greater innovation and entrepreneurship. Greater transparency will put voluntary sector and small business in a much stronger position to pitch for contracts and bring new ideas and solutions to the table. Financial disclosure will act as a trigger enabling local taxpayers to see how councils are using public money, shine a spotlight on waste, establish greater accountability and efficiency, open up new markets and improve access for small and local business.

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