Value for money

For the first time, the information – detailing all expenditure over 25,000 – is out there in the public domain, available to be analysed and scrutinised by whoever so wishes.

Meanwhile, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles is writing to

councils to ask them to follow suit by September, publishing all spending over 500 online so town halls are forced to abide by an appropriate level of scrutiny.

The decision to open the shutters of secrecy over the spending of billions of pounds of our taxes could not come at a more appropriate time, when the constriction of public spending will mean that value for money becomes an even more priceless commodity.

The 6.2bn of cuts outlined by the Treasury nearly three weeks ago are only the start, but already they are proving controversial; John Denham, the Shadow Local Government Secretary, warns today that the 1.2bn to be removed from council budgets will unfairly penalise deprived areas.

Mr Denham's intervention is diluted by the massive debt racked up by his government over the past 13 years, and how this has made immediate cuts necessary. His claims are also based on speculation – it is still unclear where the axe will fall.

However, he is entitled to question how the cuts are being applied and, in this, Mr Pickles faces an early test – these early savings must be imposed fairly and in a way people can understand if the coalition is to command the confidence of taxpayers in these challenging times.