Thursday, August 04, 2011

Office of openess...


Much more transparency: well it would be nice if we could believe it: maybe it will really be a "powerful tool to reform public services, foster innovation and empower citizens". However, similar transparency with MPs expenses doesn't seem to be going well; making all MP's claims publicly accessible online isn't a bad idea but I think it should be done BEFORE the bills are paid; the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority IPSA has a searchable database HERE with expenses by MP/constituency but they could make it easier with nice easy to understand graphs and figures [thank you Datablog, 09/10 figures]. I know expense claims have fallen - accomodation claims by HALF (2008-09: GBP10.5m, 2010-11: GBP4.9m) - which is good but to be honest I still think an average of 130 to 140 thousand quid is still way too high. I also think the system should cover all civil servants and councils/ local government (and the BBC?); it needs to be fair but it also needs to be strict, like...erm...the systems that real people, in the real world, have.

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2 comments:

Paul said...

I have to say our local newspaper is brilliant when it comes to obtaining information that local politicians would rather keep buried. I would say that in my experience the more you make something available the less likely people are to access it, it's the just the idea of openness which appeals.

Span Ows said...

Funnily enough that was EXACTLY n reaction on the IPSA website..you have to pick the MP or the constituency and I got bored immediately! Much prefer the "able to compare" excel sheets/lists/graphs etc.