Petition Closed - 370 Signatures

Thanks to everyone who signed and everyone who promoted this. I have not yet received a response from Number 10 but most petitions with this many signatures do get responses so I am expecting one.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/publiccompanies/

We won - MPs expenses will be published

Read here how the proposed change to the law was defeated

We have won this battle but the campaign to extend and improve freedom of information goes on.

If you are looking for a positive step to take why not sign this:


http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/publiccompanies/

6 days to stop MPs concealing their expenses

Please read Tom Steinburg's message and do what he says! right now!

"...Ministers are about to conceal MPs’ expenses, even though the public has just paid £1m to get them all ready for publication, and even though the tax man expects citizens to do what MPs don’t have to. They buried the news on the day of the Heathrow runway announcement. This is heading in the diametric wrong direction from government openness."

Facebook Group - I object to MPs concealing their expenses

QUANGOS Spend public cash to get more public cash

The Sunday Times today reported that public bodies are spending about £2m a year on political consultants to help them lobby ministers and MPs for more tax payers' money. Some departments have failed to respond so their could be many more hidden lobbying contracts.

In the USA they have a handy little law to prevent public funds being spent on lobbying:


Sec. 1352. Limitation on use of appropriated funds to influence
certain Federal contracting and financial transactions

-STATUTE-
(a)(1) None of the funds appropriated by any Act may be expended
by the recipient of a Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative
agreement to pay any person for influencing or attempting to
influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of
Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a
Member of Congress in connection with any Federal action described
in paragraph (2) of this subsection.

(2) The prohibition in paragraph (1) of this subsection applies
with respect to the following Federal actions:
(A) The awarding of any Federal contract.
(B) The making of any Federal grant.
(C) The making of any Federal loan.
(D) The entering into of any cooperative agreement.
(E) The extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or
modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative
agreement.



http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t29t32+1818+0++(%27influence%20%20or%20attempt%20to%20influence%27)

Got to get us one of those laws. In the mean time we have to use freedom of information to make them accountable.

My Shiny New Badge

29 Signatures - can you make it 30?

"The current law is not sensible - a company owned by one local authority is subject to the Act but a company owned by two local authorities is not.

A more sensible approach is to make all companies owned two thirds or more by any number of public authorities subject to the Act."


http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/publiccompanies/

DCLG

The Department of Communities and Local Government told to improve its handling of Freedom of Information requests after delays of up to 400 days.

http://www.lgcplus.com/News/2008/11/dclg_rapped_over_information_delays.html

"In accordance with his enforcement strategy, the Information Commissioner has conducted
an audit of a number of section 50 complaints concerning the Department for Communities
and Local Government (the ‘Department’). As a result, the Commissioner is of the view that
the Department’s procedures do not conform to the following Code of Practice issued by the
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in November 2004:..."

Practice Notice