Cabinet Office releases details of government spending for the first time ever
Official figures on the government's departmental spending have been released today as part of a Conservative strategy to enhance transparency.
The records of the expenses contain all monthly expenditures approved and implemented by the coalition government in the period between May and September 2010 – totalling more than £25,000.
The documents have been released as they are recorded in the government registries. The expenses are divided by department – showing also the Ministry of Defence – and by date, with a file for each month.
Each entry shows the name of the relative department, data and type of the expense, name of the supplying group or company, the amount of the expense and the VAT registration number.
Registered costs theoretically cover all expenditures; from advertising to mobile phones and computer maintenance. But there have been omissions.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson told the Fresh Outlook: “Of course there have been omissions. We didn't disclose data, for instance, for national security reasons.
“We have published everything except what we couldn't [publish] for national security or for contractual reasons.
“If we have signed a contract with a company with which we work, and we have agreed not to disclose details on the expenditures between us and that company, those data would not be released.”
He said he did not know the total amount of the expenditures that were omitted from publication.
Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said in an official statement: “I want the public to hold us to account for what we do and, by publishing this data today, taxpayers will be able to see exactly how we spend their money.
“We expect the public to hold our feet to the fire and make sure that not a penny of their money is wasted. We are committed to making information as readily available and easy to use as possible.”
It is the first time that a British government has released documents on its departmental spending in this scale.
During the election campaign the Conservatives had promised to promote transparency and accountability of the government in terms of spending by giving access to the public to the relative data.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
14.10.2010
The records of the expenses contain all monthly expenditures approved and implemented by the coalition government in the period between May and September 2010 – totalling more than £25,000.
The documents have been released as they are recorded in the government registries. The expenses are divided by department – showing also the Ministry of Defence – and by date, with a file for each month.
Each entry shows the name of the relative department, data and type of the expense, name of the supplying group or company, the amount of the expense and the VAT registration number.
Registered costs theoretically cover all expenditures; from advertising to mobile phones and computer maintenance. But there have been omissions.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson told the Fresh Outlook: “Of course there have been omissions. We didn't disclose data, for instance, for national security reasons.
“We have published everything except what we couldn't [publish] for national security or for contractual reasons.
“If we have signed a contract with a company with which we work, and we have agreed not to disclose details on the expenditures between us and that company, those data would not be released.”
He said he did not know the total amount of the expenditures that were omitted from publication.
Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said in an official statement: “I want the public to hold us to account for what we do and, by publishing this data today, taxpayers will be able to see exactly how we spend their money.
“We expect the public to hold our feet to the fire and make sure that not a penny of their money is wasted. We are committed to making information as readily available and easy to use as possible.”
It is the first time that a British government has released documents on its departmental spending in this scale.
During the election campaign the Conservatives had promised to promote transparency and accountability of the government in terms of spending by giving access to the public to the relative data.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
14.10.2010