ARTICLE VII. APPENDIX
4: LOCAL GOVERNMENT (TRANSPARENCY) (DESCRIPTIONS OF INFORMATION)
(ENGLAND) ORDER 2014
Additional information from the Department
for Communities and Local Government
Q1: Did the Government make it explicit
in any of the consultations mentioned in 8.2 of the Explanatory
Memorandum that it proposed specifically to require publication
of a) information about any expenditure incurred by authorities
and b) information about any legally enforceable agreement entered
into by authorities and any invitations to tender for such agreements?
If so, please direct me to the document which the Government published
which made this plain.
A1: The Government did make clear that
it would be requiring quarterly publication of certain datasets,
in its response to consultation document published in December
2013[24]. This document
formed the basis of the Government's third consultation on local
government transparency and invited feedback and points of clarification,
by 17 January 2014, on the draft Code which was annexed to the
document (paragraph 8 refers).
In paragraph 7 of the document, the
Government said that:
"Therefore he [The Secretary
of State] is minded to make regulations under section 3 of the
Act to make it a legal requirement to publish data in accordance
with Part 2 of the revised Code and to make and Order under that
section to ensure certain datasets must be published quarterly."
There were a number of other specific
references to the Government intending to require quarterly publication
of the datasets you refer to:
· Paragraph 31 of the document
referred to the quarterly publication of details relating to invitations
to tender and all legally enforceable agreements;
· Paragraph 44 third bullet
referred to the quarterly publication of details about all transactions
on a Government Procurement Card which is a component of incurred
expenditure; and,
· Paragraph 63 set out the
datasets where the Government intended to regulate to require
local authorities to publish information. The first, second and
seventh bullets make clear that the Government intended to require
quarterly publication of the datasets you refer to in your question.
Furthermore, you will see that each bullet references the relevant
paragraph in the draft Code that was annexed to the document.
Crucially, as highlighted earlier, the
Government made clear that it was inviting feedback and points
of clarification on the draft Code that was annexed to the document.
Part 2.1 of the draft Code which was annexed to the document
set out the data that the Government would be requiring local
authorities to publish on a quarterly basis, following the making
of the relevant secondary legislation.
Q2: If this specific proposal was
made explicit in any of these consultations, was it explicitly
supported or opposed by respondents and, if so, in what proportions
of total respondents? If so, please direct me to any published
document which makes it plain.
A2: The Government did not receive any
responses which referred specifically to whether the data you
highlight should be published quarterly or on a different frequency.
In passing, Hertfordshire County Council
referred to already publishing expenditure data on a monthly basis
and being able to publish purchase card information on a quarterly
basis. Newbury Town Council also referred to publishing every
expenditure transaction on a monthly basis and complementing this
with a detailed quarterly income and expenditure report. Southampton
City Council and Surrey County Council both said that monthly
publication of expenditure data would be a burden, but this frequency
of publication was never part of the Government's proposal under
Part 2 of the Code i.e. the mandatory section. One private respondent
thought that allowing quarterly publication of expenditure data,
instead of requiring monthly publication, might mean that the
data would be more inaccurate and so avoid this, the Government
should specify that the date of each expenditure transaction should
be published in a day/month/year format. The Local Government
Association's response made no reference to the frequency of publication
of the datasets you highlight.
…the vast majority of responses
the Government received were asking detailed questions or making
detailed comments about the specific content and/or drafting of
the Code itself. The Government judged that these could not be
addressed effectively in a traditional government response document.
So, in discussion with the Local Government Association, the Government's
view was that it would be more helpful to local authorities to
publish a Frequently Asked Questions document[25]
which answered all of the technical points raised both during
the consultation and at three workshops held in January and attended
by 63 different local authorities. The Government thought that
this would be a more helpful way of getting its responses out
to those who need to implement the Code.
Q3: At 10.1, the Explanatory Memorandum
says that the Order "has no direct impact on the private,
voluntary or public sectors". Given the potentially wide
scope of the information to be published quarterly by local authorities,
how does the department justify the statement that the Order has
no direct impact on the public sector? At 10.2, however, there
is acknowledgement of an impact: what is the department's assessment
of the impact?
A3: The Government maintains that the
Order would have no direct impact on the public sector because
it simply expands the scope of the Secretary of State's enabling
power - it would enable him to require details of the datasets
referred to in the Order to be published more frequently than
annually. It is the subsequent use of the power that would have
an impact on local authorities. The Government's intention is
to make Regulations under section 3 of the Local Government, Planning
and Land Act 1980 to make it a legal requirement for local authorities
to publish data in accordance with Part 2 of the Local Government
Transparency Code 2014[26].
It is this action which will create an impact on local authorities
- of itself the Order would not require local authorities to do
anything and so it cannot create an impact on them or other parts
of the public sector.
However, the Government does recognise
that the Order is a stepping stone towards its overall policy
goal of making part of the Code a legal requirement on local authorities.
It decided, therefore, that it would be helpful to Parliament
and local authorities to publish an Impact Assessment[27]
alongside the Order. Table 3 of the Impact Assessment sets out
the impact on local authorities to whom the Code applies of publishing
the quarterly information set out in the Code. The Government
assesses the impact as £1.3 million a year. The Government
will be meeting these costs in full, in line with its new burdens
doctrine, if the relevant secondary legislation is put in place
to make Part 2 of the Code a legal requirement on local authorities.
24 Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities
on Data Transparency: Government response to Consultation was
published in December 2013,
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/266815/Transparency_Code_Government_Response.pdf
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25
Local government transparency code 2014: frequently asked questions,
May 2014,
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/308186/Local_Government_Transparency_Code_2014_Frequently_Asked_Questions_Final.pdf Back
26
Local government transparency code 2014, May 2014,
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/308185/Local_Government_Transparency_Code_2014_Final.pdf Back
27 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326686/Local_Government_Transparency_code_2014_-_IA.pdf
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