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Local newspapers and the ballot box will be the main deterrent for those councils which fail to meet the deadline for publishing their spending online, the communities secretary has warned. Speaking exclusively to The MJ ahead of next week's Conservative Party conference, Eric Pickles said he wanted to see a halt to end-of-year budget burning, where departments spend unallocated cash to avoid losing the money. He said; ‘This isn't another central government box-ticking exercise. The public have a right to see how their council tax is being spent.' His comments came with the launch of new guidance setting out how councils should release ‘clear and comprehensible data' on spending – and make local people aware. Councils have until January to have all their spending details published online – and they will be expected to promote publication with their local media. The department highlighted that 60 councils, including Redbridge LBC and Windsor and Maidenhead RBC, had already published their accounts on their websites. Mr Pickles said: ‘Transparency is immensely important. It's absolutely right that the public have the right to see what's going on.' He accepted that the number of actual taxpayers taking advantage of the data was likely to be small, but would be more useful to local media outlets. ‘I'm sure there will be members of the public laboriously going through websites. But it's mainly designed for the local press.' He added that online publication might make officers more risk-averse, but saw this as a positive development. ‘I'm not asking local authorities to do anything that we haven't already done. There is an inherent caution in local government, and that isn't a bad thing.' Mr Pickles added he was ‘almost certain' the initiative would also bring a cost saving for councils hit by the costs of handling Freedom of Information (FoI) requests. ‘I used a few FoIs in Opposition, and they can be very effective. But they will lose some of their mystique because its not been hidden. It's about making things more accountable.' He played down predictions that the web initiative would be the start of what prime minister David Cameron has dubbed ‘Google government' but accepted IT would open up government to local people. He said: ‘We are living in a more accountable age. There are more tools available, such as spreadsheets, for the informed citizen and I think that's a good thing. I don't expect everybody to get it right, but I do expect everybody to have a try. I don't want perfection to get in the way. It's the raw data that is so important.' He also cautioned against avoiding publication. He said: ‘Those who try to flout the rules by buying the town hall clock in £250 segments are going to be rumbled. This is not an inducement to buy things on the never-never.' Mr Pickles also attacked political opponents for portraying ministers as eager cost-cutters who wanted to make deep reductions in public sector spending. ‘The deal is a lot more power for local government for a lot less money. But to think that we are enjoying this process is wrong.'

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WHITEHALL

Public 'have right' to know where cash goes

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