Transparency Overview

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Transparency Overview

Letting light into the corridors of power

Greater transparency is an important policy commitment on the part of the Coalition Government:

"We are pulling back the curtains to let light into the corridors of power.  By being open and accountable we can start to win back people’s trust. Openness will not be comfortable for us in government; but it will enable the public to hold our feet to the fire. This way lies better government. Transparency is key to our efficiency drive, and will enable the public to help us to deliver better value for money in public spending."

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office

What this means in practice continues to evolve as the Public Sector Transparency Board defines open data standards and oversees the publication of detailed guidance. What is however already clear is that the policy has cost, complexity and risk implications at a time when the public sector’s priority is addressing the maintenance of front-line services in the light of significant budget cuts.

spotlightonspend cuts costs, eliminates complexity and reduces risk

spotlightonspend is a managed service that is comprised of everything necessary to cost-effectively facilitate publication of the spend and related information you elect to make available to the general public.

spotlightonspend is designed to:

  • cut costs by removing the need to add to the workload of your current staff or increase headcount,
  • eliminate the complexity of becoming and staying compliant with policy,
  • reduce the risk of inadvertent breach of the Data Protection Legislation,
  • enhance the information you publish to improve its accessibility, relevance and value for the intended audience – the general public.

Online Access – we manage publication of your data to an intuitive and easy-to-use web application that is hosted by us but accessed by the general public through your own organisation’s web site.

Data Transformation we cleanse, redact, classify and enrich your raw financial data before you make your spend and related information accessible.

Data Management – we manage annual, quarterly or monthly updates and ensure your raw financial data is published to http://data.gov.uk in machine readable form.

Policy Compliance – we monitor policy and adapt as needed to ensure that you remain compliant with published guidelines.

"I'm really excited about the opportunities for transparency and it's something this government is utterly committed to. spotlightonspend demonstrates that, when innovative businesses work with far-sighted public bodies, we can inform the public, reduce costs and improve democracy both locally and nationally."

Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government.

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