On the 30th of March 2010, the Communities secretary John Denham announced the publication of Local Spending Report data, marking a new era in providing public access to complex government data.
For the first time, Local Spending data is presented in an intuitive and user friendly way, providing citizens with information and insights, which previously were solely within the domain of professional analysts.
To ensure successful publication, Informed Solutions worked closely with CLG, using its proven consultation methodology and delivery framework to ensure the challenging launch deadlines were met.
The Local Spending Reports, built on CLG's award winning Places Database and using sophisticated visualisation techniques pioneered by Informed Solutions, enables citizens and front line professionals to visualise and explore local spending for any area of England. Using intuitive yet powerful interactive charts and maps, users can quickly see how money has been spent in local areas, and by which public bodies.
Launching the report, the Secretary of State said: 'Taxpayers have a right to know how their hard earned money is being spent and better, smarter data is crucial to driving down costs and increasing innovation. The changes today are about making it easier for citizens and councils alike to access at the touch of a button the information they need to scrutinise and challenge how money is being spent.'
The new digital presentation of the Local Spending Report makes a great and varied amount of data, previously 'locked' in inaccessible spreadsheets, available for interrogation and scrutinisation at the touch of a button. This includes information on funding for police, fire, health and local authorities. The visualisation represents real innovation in delivering the wider governmental remit of make public data public, empowering citizens to better understand the local services that are available to them, hold local service providers to account, and drive for improvements at a local level.
David Lawton, Informed Solutions' Lead Consultant for the project, commented: 'We are delighted to have been able to support CLG in delivering on the making public data public agenda through the Local Spending Reports visualisation. By using innovative web technologies, and working in close collaboration with CLG's statisticians and policy advisors, we have been able to make this first round of local spending report data much more accessible and transparent to the citizen.'