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Transparency Policy

Adopted by Shavington cum Gresty Parish Council on 2 March 2022
Adopted by Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council on 17 May 2023

Introduction

The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 was issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to define the publication of information by local authorities about the discharge of their functions.

The code applies to local authorities that meet certain criteria, including Parish Councils that have an annual income exceeding £200,000

Local Government Transparency in England Briefing Paper issued May 2016 states – “Parish councils with a ‘turnover’ of between £25,000 and £200,000 will be expected to follow the Local Government Transparency Code 2015” for authorities with a turnover over £200,000

Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council is committed to being open and transparent and will adhere to the Local Government Transparency Code guidelines.

Why we publish data

Improved governance – enabling the public to understand how the council spends its money on services and community improvements within the Parish.

Promote accountability – demonstrating the council’s commitment to being open on its expenditure.

Principles

a. Open data by default

The council will:

  • Publish data openly unless there are legitimate reasons why some data cannot be released, in particular pertaining to intellectual property, commercial sensitivity, personally identifiable data and sensitive data.
  • Publish data on a single web page so it can be found easily, in one place and is easy to access.
  • Ensure that all data processing is compliant with any legal and contractual requirements including the Data Protection Act 2018.

b. Quality and Quantity

The council will:

  • Release open data that is timely, comprehensive and accurate. Where practical, the data will be in the original and unmodified form.
  • Release data as early as possible

c. Usable by all

The council will:

Wherever possible, release data in accessible format to make the data as widely available as possible to the widest range of users.

d. What data do we publish

Data we publish:

  • Expenditure over £500
  • Employees
  • Contract and tenders
  • Public Land, Property and Car Parking owned by the Council
  • Policies and Governance Documents
  • Internal and External Auditor report
  • Annual Governance and Accountability Return
  • Council and Committee minutes
  • Parish Council Budget