Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency

In October 2011, The Mayor told me that this document would be put forward to Council when it was appropriate. The Council were awaiting clarification on some points from the National Association of Local Councils and once they have that it will be brought to Council for consideration.

Since that time there were full Council meetings on 22nd November 2011 and 24th January 2012 which did not include this on the Agenda.


I have today asked the Mayor again, Can you tell me when it will be put before Council?

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PREVIOUSLY

On the 7th February 2011 a consultation document was issued on the above, with comments to be in by 17th March 2011..

This was discussed at the Biggleswade Town Council Planning Committee on 8th March 2011 and this is recorded in the minutes:

"that a letter be written to ask if this code of practice applies to Town Councils, as they are not mentioned in the list of definitions of "local authority", and also to say that the code of recommended practice is a repetition of Town Councils own working practices."

This is the parish of Biggleswade, and without a mayor we would have a parish council with a chairman, since we have a mayor we are called a town council, That's the only difference. The code applies to Biggleswade Town Council.

It has been brought to my attention that the final document was published on 29th September 2011 with a press release from Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, which included:

Ministers believe that data transparency should extend beyond local spending and that full disclosure should be every council's default position. Councils will now be expected to have regard to the Code in all their data publications. Subject to consultation, ministers are minded to make the Code a legally binding requirement to ensure authorities can be held fully accountable to the local people they serve.

The Code asks local authorities to follow the three principles of transparency when publishing data - Demand-led, Open and Timely. The Code also proposes the minimum datasets that should be released for reuse.

They are:

• expenditure over £500, (including costs, supplier and transaction information)
• senior employee salaries, names, budgets and responsibilities of staff paid over £58,200 - equivalent to the lowest Senior Civil Service pay band
• an organisational chart
• the 'pay multiple' - the ratio between the highest paid salary and the median average salary of the whole of the authority's workforce
• councillor allowances and expenses
• copies of contracts and tenders to businesses and to the voluntary community and social enterprise sector
• grants to the voluntary community and social enterprise sector should be clearly itemised and listed
• policies, performance, external audits and key inspections and key indicators on the authorities' fiscal and financial position
• the location of public land and building assets and key attribute information that is normally recorded on asset registers
• data of democratic running of the local authority including the constitution, election results, committee minutes, decision - making processes and records of decisions

I have asked Biggleswade Town Council if they will be complying with the Code.

link to the code:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1997468.pdf

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On the 4th October 2011, I asked Biggleswade Town Clerk (copy to Mayor):

The above code was published on 29th September 2011 by the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles .

Can you confirm that Biggleswade Town Council will be complying with the code?

The only response I had was on the 5th October 2011, from the Mayor. He said that they would be put before Council when appropriate, although there was no guarantee the Council would vote in favour of them. He went on to say that if the guidelines become law then the Council would implement them.

The next Council meeting is this evening (25th October 2011) and this is not included on the Agenda, so I asked the Mayor:

Can you tell me when it will be “appropriate” to be put before Council?

The response was that the Council are awaiting clarification on some points from the National Association of Local Councils and once they have that it will be brought to Council for consideration.