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New Online Platform Delivers Transparency on Public Spending
for Councils
spotlightonspend enables councils to publish and compare
spend data over £500 against standardised metrics in line with
'Programme for Government' requirements
Newbury, Berkshire – 5 July 2010 –
spotlightonspend
is an online transparency platform, designed to radically improve
the accessibility, relevance and value of Government spend
information to the general public. Spend data from participating
public bodies can be browsed and searched in a consistent manner,
making it much clearer to see exactly what goods and services are
being procured and also which private sector companies are doing
the supplying. In line with the coalition government's new
'Programme for Government' document, councils will have to publish
all spending above £500 by January 2011, in an effort to increase
accountability, transparency and help drive down costs of
procurement contracts.
spotlightonspend is a web-based platform providing an easy and
intuitive way for councils to publish information on overall spend
on goods and services being purchased above £500 or £25,000 for
Central Government, and in addition, which private sector companies
are doing the supplying. Published spend information can be
compared against useful standardised metrics, making comparisons
possible between authorities of differing sizes. Metrics include:
per full time employee, spend with small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs), spend relative to the number of households,
working population, persons of pensionable age and number of
children that make up the resident population.
Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government, said, "I'm really excited about the opportunities of
transparency and it's something this government is utterly
committed to. Spotlight on Spend 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."
"Local authorities are keen to embrace the Government's push for
open government and help deliver better value for money in public
spending," said Luke Spikes, CEO of Spikes Cavell & Co, which
operate the new spotlightonspend service. "spotlightonspend is
designed to radically improve the accessibility, relevance and
value of public sector spend information to residents and local
business communities. We're seeing both strong interest and rapid
uptake by local councils, which we think is reflective of their
desire to share public spending metrics with local citizens in the
interests of accountability, transparency and disclosure."
spotlightonspend has already been deployed by a number of local
authorities in England that are keen to embrace the Government's
push on transparency in public sending. Early adopter customers
include the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead,
Guildford Borough Council, and Waverley Borough Council to name but
a few, with additional councils now going live on a weekly
basis.
spotlightonspend enables standardisation and a consistent method
of classifying spend making it possible to compare a public bodies'
spend to either the average level for that public body type or
another public body, facilitating a deeper level of transparency.
Spotlightonspend allocates suppliers and their associated spend
into clearly labelled categories, with easily recognisable terms
for goods and services, such as 'building supplies' or 'taxis' for
example.
spotlightonspend is powered by Spikes Cavell whose products and
services are currently being used by more than 720 public sector
bodies nationwide to support their drive to improve the way they
buy goods and services with the objective of saving money as well
as addressing important policy related questions, including
transparency http://www.spikescavell.net/.
TAGS: transparency, public spending, spotlightonspend, online platform, local government, spikes cavell, spend, data
About spotlightonspend
spotlightonspend is an innovative online platform and supporting
data processing infrastructure that has been designed to radically
improve the accessibility, relevance and value of Government spend
information to the general public http://www.spotlightonspend.org/.
For further information, please contact:
Hayley Wienszczak
Spikes Cavell & Co
Tel: +44 (0)1635 556970
Email: [email protected]
Vanessa Land
Devonshire Marketing
Tel: +44 (0) 7768 693 779
Email: [email protected]