Transparency

Transparency Requirements for Local Councils

There is often a great deal of confusion what are the transparency requirements for Local Councils. This is not helped by the publication of some information that is not correct, or is misleading.

What are the requirements?

It is a common mistake, when referring to the publication obligations on local councils, to cite the requirements of Local Government Transparency Code 2015. This is a document published by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government as a Code of Recommended Practice. The code was widely circulated and is quoted in The Good Councillor’s guide to Finance and Transparency which lists the 'requirements' of the Code. 

What is not commonly understood is that the Transparency Code was, on it's own, only a Code of Recommended Practice, it was not a legal requirement. The government made it a legal requirement by issuing two separate Statutory Instruments, these are S.I. 2015/480 and S.I. 2015/494 .

The relevant text of S.I. 2015/480 (below) clearly states that it applies to all authorities ' other than a parish council whose gross income or expenditure.. ...is £6.5 million or less'. This wording essentially exempts local councils from the publication requirements of the Local Government Transparency Code.

Requirement to publish information

2.—(1) An authority to which the Code applies, other than a parish council whose gross annual income or expenditure (whichever is the higher) is £6.5 million or less, must publish the information specified in Part 2 of the Code in the manner and form and on the occasions specified in Part 2 of the Code

Subsequently the government introduced  the second Statutory Instrument, S.I. 2015/494, and this formally imposed the requirements of The Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities on Councils with an 'annual turnover' that does not exceed £25,000. (Note this is a separate code from the original Local Government Transparency Code.)  

Summary of Transparency Code Requirements

The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 is a code of recommended practice not a legal requirement for local councils. This is confirmed by S.I. 2015/480 which gives a formal exemption.

Councils with an 'annual turnover' not exceeding £25,000 are, however, legally subject to the requirements of The Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities and they are obliged to comply with this.

Publication requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000

In addition to the requirements of the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities, Councils are also required, under the FOI Act 2000,  to have in place a Publication Scheme, and to publish information in accordance with that scheme. 

Helpfully, the Information Commissioners Officer, (the ICO), has published both a Model Publication Scheme, for all authorities, and a specific  template guide for Parish Councils . By adopting the Model Publication Scheme and using the template guide, a parish council will have met the requirements  set out in the 2000 Act.