Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Finally



.
.
Spending data for the government is being released on a much greater scale, with the release of COINS spending data to be supplemented by itemised spending above £500 from local government.
.
The Combined Online Information System (Coins) includes what departments were authorised to spend
.
What they actually spent and what they are forecast to spend in future.
.
Experts are now poring over the complex files to decipher their contents.
.
BBC Freedom of Information expert Martin Rosenbaum has asked BBC News website readers to help out with this task.
.
Mr Rosenbaum, who had a Freedom of Information request to gain access to the database refused last year, said the publication represented a reversal of policy from the previous government.
.
He said the database had become a symbolic target for open government campaigners - but Labour had argued the information would be impenetrable for most people.
.
Several bodies have appeared that aim to provide a clear picture of how the Government spends money, including Where Does My Money Go?
.
Although they're operating on a relatively small scale at the moment, they've achieved a lot in a short time.
.
It's not a stretch of the imagination to see WDMMG? achieving its ultimate goal of tracing where every body's tax money, down to the nearest penny, has gone.
.
The London Datastore and Data.gov.uk are campaigning for and highlighting open data releases from the Government, and the Government itself is planning a raft of data releases.
.
With more data becoming available about how our Government operates, it'll inevitably be pressured to change.
.
For too long the previous government acted as if the public had no right to know where their hard earned taxes were spent.
.
The new government is lifting that veil of secrecy by releasing detailed spending figures dating back to 2008.
..
People and groups can now take the opportunity to scrutinise carefully how their money is being spent.
.
The move was welcomed by campaign group The Taxpayers Alliance.
.
Chief executive Matthew Elliott said: "The next step is for this trend to continue, so that all information about government spending is available, allowing the public to call the government to account.
.
There is an army of enthusiastic, skilled amateurs out there who will gladly explore and use this information to suggest ways in which the Government can save money and improve public services.

Not only in the UK

In every country on the planet government spending should be made available to its citizens

Only in this way can corruption be tackled

And corruption globally is one of the planets mega major issues

No comments: