How to solve a problem like data transparency costs
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
With the number of freedom of information requests increasing and the government’s transparency programme kicking in, reports in the press have highlighted the difference in approach that local authorities are taking to deal with the expense arising from these initiatives. These range from a refusal to comply with the government’s calls to publish data to a publish all approach - in this post, we consider these two opposing approaches in more detail.
Benjamin Franklin may not have had public procurement specifically in mind when he set out this maxim, but it is certainly an approach which proves its validity on an ongoing basis. This post looks at some recent news stories that highlight the potential pitfalls of an inadequate planning stage in the public procurement process.
The High Court has recently given an interesting insight into the broader question of the scope of Welsh Minister’s powers when exercising their executive functions under the devolution settlement.
Last week was national offer day when more than 500,000 children in their final year at primary school were told which secondary school they were going to in September. Once again, it appears from media reports that there is a shortfall in places and some children (1 in 7) will not get their first choice of school. Many of the parents of such pupils are probably planning to appeal and it appears likely that local authorities will be facing a substantial number of appeals for popular schools in their area that are oversubscribed. These appeals must be heard by 6 July 2011. 
With an excellent sense of timing, Eric Pickles has called on local authorities to embrace twitter and other social media in the week that the press has