Is the council witholding financial information from us?

[megilleland]

The council used to publish its expenditure figures for each month very promptly. However the council have since made a decision to publish its expenditure figures only every three months for the periods ending June, September, December and March. This seems at variance with the government's Local Spending Data guidance which states that:
 

Data should be published monthly, as soon as possible after month end but no later than 30 days after month end.

Authorities may wish to publish the data for longer reporting periods e.g. quarterly, year to date, etc. There is no reason why they should not do this, but this should be in addition to the individual monthly files.

 

The council's delay in publishing their expenditure figures promptly would appear to delay and prevent the public and councillors from seeing the ongoing state of their council's expenditure as in the case of the Blueschool House and Link Road fiascos. Maybe it would be better to go back to the old system, which this council practiced quite easily over the past years, and these problems would be picked up much earlier.

[Denise Lloyd]

Of course they are but even if they say they are not they do make it very difficult to find different things out 

[Denise Lloyd]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjFtIiL1PnWAhVK1hoKHV_WA1Y4ChAWCCkwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rightmove.co.uk%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Fproperty-69271784.html&usg=AOvVaw2cqWGLXX3hWLuV7eGSuzxj

[megilleland]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjFtIiL1PnWAhVK1hoKHV_WA1Y4ChAWCCkwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rightmove.co.uk%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Fproperty-69271784.html&usg=AOvVaw2cqWGLXX3hWLuV7eGSuzxj

 

I assume it is part of the HC Farms sell off - Glewstone, sub-estate 6. The total guide price for the HC farms is £38,020,000 - just about cover the increased costs of the Link Road and Blueschool House Hub and Fisher German commision - £352,000 according to council contracts.

 

Line 192:

Contract Title

ESPO Reference 2700-15  Estate Management Cocsultancy Services    

 

Directorate

Economy, Communities & Corporate    

 

Department

Property services    

 

Contracts Manager

Beale, Helen    

 

Brief description

The appointed agents will be responsible for marketing the estate and implementing the disposals programme agreed by cabinet.

 

Estimated Contract value

£352,000

 

Start date

01/08/2016

 

Review date

31/01/2019

 

Option to extend

No

 

Quotation or tender

Quotation

 

I am sure the real figure for Fisher German's part in this scheme will be far more than £352,000, judging by my past experience of buying and selling my homes over the years. Maybe the true figures will be 

revealed in time. I see that the original post of HC FARMS has had 21,899 views so far - plenty of interest.

 

 

[Denise Lloyd]

In reply no 3 to HC Farms there are various links to HC these are no longer available - why?

 

I am sure that this is not part of the Council sell off and I know there was once a list of HC farms but can no longer find this info.

[megilleland]

Links in post 3 working for me Denise.

[Denise Lloyd]

Yes they are for me now! 

[megilleland]

When it comes to transparency this council leads the way. Having sent them an email:
 

The council used to publish its expenditure figures for each month very promptly. However the council have since made a decision to publish its expenditure figures only every three months for the periods ending June, September, December and March. This seems at variance with the government's Local Spending Data guidance which states that:
 
Data should be published monthly, as soon as possible after month end but no later than 30 days after month end.

Authorities may wish to publish the data for longer reporting periods e.g. quarterly, year to date, etc. There is no reason why they should not do this, but this should be in addition to the individual monthly files.

The council's delay in publishing their expenditure figures promptly would appear to delay and prevent the public and councillors from seeing the ongoing state of their council's expenditure as in the case of the Blueschool House and Link Road fiascos. Maybe it would be better to go back to the old system, which this council practiced quite easily over the past years, and these problems would be picked up much earlier.

Any comment?

 

The figures for July, August and September have now been published, but the council decided to not help the enquiring mind by jumbling the dates over this period all in one table. Is this to hide information which would have easily stood out in the original format. Surely not.

[megilleland]

Here is the council's reply to my questions above.

 

Dear Mr. Gilleland,

 

Thank you for your queries. I have liaised with the finance team involved with the publication of the data and can now respond to you.

 

The council used to publish its expenditure figures for each month very promptly. However the council have since made a decision to publish its expenditure figures only every three months for the periods ending June, September, December and March. This seems at variance with the government's Local Spending Data guidance which states that:
 
Data should be published monthly, as soon as possible after month end but no later than 30 days after month end.

Authorities may wish to publish the data for longer reporting periods e.g. quarterly, year to date, etc. There is no reason why they should not do this, but this should be in addition to the individual monthly files.

The council's delay in publishing their expenditure figures promptly would appear to delay and prevent the public and councillors from seeing the ongoing state of their council's expenditure as in the case of the Blueschool House and Link Road fiascos. Maybe it would be better to go back to the old system, which this council practiced quite easily over the past years, and these problems would be picked up much earlier.

 

Any comment?

 

The Transparency Code 2015 requires local authorities to publish certain sets of information (“datasetsâ€) as “open dataâ€. Open data is data published in a machine readable, non-proprietary format so that users can access and re-use it regardless of which computer system they use. The dataset requirements in the Transparency Code include expenditure exceeding £500

 

Some datasets must be published at least quarterly and not later than one month after the quarter to which the data and information is applicable (as stated in Part 2.1 of the Code); this includes the expenditure over £500. Other datasets must be published at least annually (as stated in Part 2.2 of the Code). It is recommended that some information including expenditure exceeding £500 be published monthly or as soon as it becomes available, however this is not something local authorities must do. Equally, the 2010 Local Spending Data Guidance is guidance and not statutory.

 

The council is therefore not wrongly publishing expenditure data by doing so on a quarterly basis, as this is in compliance with the Transparency Code 2015, and the council’s procedure for publication of data under the Transparency Code.

 

The decision to publish the data quarterly rather than monthly was as a result of work capacity within the finance team who prepare and publish the data. The finance team will however review to see if they are able to return to a position of monthly publication, in recognition of the greater transparency that this provides.

 

Note the figures for July, August and September have now been published, but the council has decided to not help the enquiring mind by jumbling the dates over this 3 month period into one table. Is this to hide information which would have easily stood out in the original format?

 

The data can be easily sorted by date, no data is hidden by this. The finance team will include in their review how the data is presented to ensure that it is easily accessible.

 

Please let me know if you have any further queries regarding this.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Anthony Sawyer

Information Access and Records Manager

Herefordshire Council

[Ubique]

Martin , as our Researcher your thoughts now are ...............?

[megilleland]

The data can be easily sorted by date, no data is hidden by this. The finance team will include in their review how the data is presented to ensure that it is easily accessible.

 

It was far easier before. You didn't have to play around sorting the information out, you just opened the data for each month and away you went, everything clearly laid out. Yet again the council throw more obstacles in your path. It's the same strategy used in all their business and day to day activities to b*gg*r you up - for example let's put more traffic lights on the roads to slow up the traffic flows. How many lights are there on the city roads?

 

Authorities may wish to publish the data for longer reporting periods e.g. quarterly, year to date, etc. There is no reason why they should not do this, but this should be in addition to the individual monthly files.

 

I am reading this wrong or are the council? Publish data individually for each month obligatory.

[Denise Lloyd]

I agree Meggi......... when I try to find something in the Council website I seem to go  round and round in circles until I get to what I am looking for.  By contrast for example you go to Tesco website type in for arguments sake Sauvignon Blanc and up comes all varieties of SB sold by Tesco.  It should be that simple on the HC website but it is not.  It has just been over complicated