London, 10 September 2010

The Local Data Panel, headed by Prof. Nigel Shadbolt, has released a draft guidance for Local Authorities on how to comply with the Prime Minister's call to publish all financial transactions above the sum of 500 GBP starting January 2011.

The guidance is a draft and the Local Data Panel is welcoming comments, suggestions, questions and other feedback, by adding to the comment section of data.gov.uk's weblog or contacting the Local Data Panel directly.

The Guidance formulates the purpose of publishing spending data, with a license for re-use, and states "councils should be be asking, what’s the most they can publish, not what’s the least they have to do". It also asks for rather making data available quickly than seeking full alignment across every entity first.

Keeping things pragmatic, it lists what is mandatory and what is recommended when it comes to

• Licence, Timing and Contacts,
• File Formats,
• Publication requirements and process, and
• Data Content.

Appendices list a specification for a CSV file format, examples of data that should be included, examples of data to be excluded, and links to more sources of guidance.

One of the members of the Local Data Panel, Chris Taggart, blogged a description of how the process of drawing up the guidelines took place, which in itself highlights some challenges government faces in terms of collaborative technology.