HAMPSHIRE County Council chiefs are preparing to publish details of every item of spending over £500 which comes from the £672million the authority receives from taxpayers.

Councils in England and Wales are being urged to throw open the books as part of the Coalition Government’s drive to improve transparency and accountability.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles expects councils to begin publishing details of spending from this month. He hopes the measure will act as a spur to cut waste and spend money more efficiently.

The figures will disclose how much councils spend on everything from tea and biscuits to road repairs and waste disposal. Some of this information can already be found on council websites.

In 2009, Hampshire County Council spent £79.4m with Hampshire Waste Services Ltd, £27m with Amey, its |highways maintenance contractor, £10.8m with Manpower, supplier of |temporary staff and £9.2m with bus|company, Stagecoach South.

The county council is also planning to publish online details about councillor attendance at meetings, hospitality received and a register of interests.

Until now, annual figures for attendance, which show how many meetings councillors attend as members of committees, have never been published despite members receiving £1.4m in allowances and expenses last year In 2008, an independent pay panel |criticised as “indefensible” the fact the council had failed to publish this and other data on councillor performance.

The council promised to publish annual attendance figures on its website but – two years later – still has not done so. There is a register of elected members’ interests at the council’s Winchester headquarters, but people have to make an appointment to view it.

Council leader Councillor Ken Thornber, said: “The new Government has great expectations of transparency but people cannot judge what their local councillors do by simply looking at allowances and summary figures for attending meetings.

“We are working on a large project which will be more accessible and |meaningful to the public and which will encompass data around individual |members’ interests, hospitality, allowances and meeting attendance. As part of the project, we will also be publishing all items of expenditure over £500.

“In providing comprehensive attendance and allowance information together in one easily-accessible format in future, residents will be better able to judge the value for money for their local councillors.”

Christine Melsom, founder of anti-council tax group, IsItFair, welcomed the plans.

She said: “I am delighted that, at last, we are going to have some sort of accountability. It should have been done a long time ago.”