[okfn-coord] Fwd: Where Does My Money Go prototype

Thu Dec 10 09:21:50 UTC 2009

Also press release below went out earlier this morning. Got a good
quote from Tom Watson MP. Grateful if board members could circulate to
relevant colleagues! I've not attached shiny PDF (with screenshots) to
coord list, but will happily forward if useful.

Jonathan

## PRESS RELEASE
## Where Does My Money Go?
## Launch of new online tool to explore where UK public spending goes

Now more than ever, UK taxpayers will be wondering where public funds
are being spent - not least because of the long shadow cast by the
financial crisis and last week's announcements of an estimated £850
billion price tag for bailing out UK banks. Yesterday's pre-budget
report also raises questions about spending cutbacks and how public
money is being allocated across different key areas.

However, closing the loop between ordinary citizens and the
paper-trail of government receipts is no mean feat. Relevant documents
and datasets are scattered around numerous government websites - and,
once located, spending figures often require background knowledge to
interpret and can be hard put into context. In the UK there is no
equivalent to the US Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency
Act, which requires official bodies to publish figures on spending in
a single place. There were proposals for similar legislation in 2007,
but these were never approved.

On Friday 11th December the Open Knowledge Foundation will unveil a
free interactive online tool for showing where UK public spending
goes. The 'Where Does My Money Go?' project allows the public to
explore data on UK public spending over the past 6 years in an
intuitive way using an array of maps, timelines and graphs. By means
of the tool, anyone can make sense of information on public spending
in ways which were not previously possible.

For example, while playing around with the tool, we noticed:

  * Total public spending as a percentage of gross domestic product
this year increased to levels not seen since the recession of 1992.
  * A sudden increase in environmental spending in the North West in
2006, from <20% to 75% of the national average, up to an extra £1bn
per year. Close inspection of the Treasury's Country and Regional
Analysis spreadsheet attributes this to Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority - Waste Management. What could be happening in Sellafield
that costs the taxpayer so much?
  * Healthcare spending in real terms under New Labour has almost
doubled since they came to power in 1997. Education spending has
increased by 75%.
  * The UK spends more on old age than on education. The amount of
money spent to support those in retirement is £87bn compared to the
£82bn on the whole of eduction.
  * £665 was spent in Northern Ireland on housing and amenities for
every man, woman and child in 2008-9, compared to £413 in London.
Spending per capita in Britain's capital on housing, transport and
public order and safety all exceeded the national average by over 60%.

Tom Watson MP, commented: "Where Does My Money Go represents another
milestone in the UK's transparency movement. We know that transparency
changes individual and institutional behaviour and this new tool will
have a big impact on the way the public sector is held to account by
UK citizens.

"As well as being a great public benefit, Where Does My Money Go is
also an immensely complicated tool to code and design. I applaud the
team behind the project for their commitment and hard work. They're
leading the way in transparency and making a difference for the
country"

Editors can preview the prototype using the following details:

  * URL: http://www.wheredoesmymoney.org/prototype
  * Username: wdmmg
  * Password: quaquer0

## Notes to editors

The Open Knowledge Foundation (okfn.org) is a not-for-profit
organisation dedicated to improving the way knowledge is shared. The
'Where Does My Money?' project was a winner of the Cabinet Office's
Show Us A Better Way competition. The project benefits from an
advisory group which includes leading transparency advocates and
information visualisation experts. The prototype was conceived by the
Open Knowledge Foundation and developed with data visualisation
specialists iconomical (iconomical.com), based in Amsterdam. The
Foundation is also currently working with the UK Government on the
technology behind the new data.gov.uk site.

Currently the project is based on data from HM Treasury - but the
project is working to collect, aggregate and incorporate much more
fine-grained information, including on local spending. On Monday
Gordon Brown announced plans to publish much more detailed information
on public spending in a more systematic way as part of the 'Smarter
Government' initiative.

## Further information

  * Dr. Rufus Pollock / rufus.pollock at okfn.org / 07795 176 976
  * Jonathan Gray / jonathan.gray at okfn.org / 07533 014 604
  * See also: http://www.wheredoesmymoney.org/