The Vale of Glamorgan Council is set to become the first council in Wales to publish details of purchases made by its services costing over £500.
The new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, has urged councils to publish spending over £500, as he believes this will lead to greater value for money.
It would be up to the Welsh Assembly Government to decide if Welsh councils should be asked to do this, but the Vale council has decided to show its commitment to transparency and adopt Mr Pickles’ proposal.
The council is confident it can make expenditure details available to the public at little cost by publishing the information on its website.
Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Gordon Kemp, said: “I believe that local government offers greater transparency than any other public sector. Vale Council agendas, reports and meeting minutes are available on our website, as are details of Members’ expenses. In these times of budget cuts we must balance the cost of providing such information with the need to be publicly accountable. However I have requested that an on-line database detailing payments from the council to suppliers is made available as soon as possible. Providing the database will cost very little and improve the transparency of the council and our accountability to our residents. We hope the database will be available by September this year.”
English councils will be expected to make details of spending above £500 on all goods and services available for the public to “see and scrutinise”.
This would include such items as car hire, software and utility bills.
The Department for Communities and Local Government says all English councils “should be doing this as a matter of course by the start of next year”.
