This is a technical announcement, but potentially one with big implications. David Cameron says that if he wins the election, he will publish in full any contract between government and a third party supplier worth more than £25,000.
Cameron is making a full statement on this in a speech he is delivering tonight by video-link to the Technology Entertainment Design conference in California. But the Tories have issued a press release in advance with this quote from George Osborne.
Our commitment to publish government contracts in full is the most radical transparency announcement ever made by a British political party – and will enable the public to hold ministers and civil servants to account like never before.
This policy will help us to cut government spending, root out waste and empower the public – and bring in a new age of transparency and accountability.
The "full publication" policy would come in from 1 January 2011. Every "commercially significant" clause would be published online and all supporting documentation would be made public.
Initially contracts involving the Ministry of Defence and the security services would not be covered by the policy, but the Tories say they want to find a way of publishing contracts relating to "non-sensitive" procurement by these bodies. All other departments would have to publish their contracts unless they could persuade the Treasury that publication would be a threat to national security.
Cameron believes that transparency of this kind will make government more efficient. He has already promised to publish details of every item of spending worth more than £25,000. He thinks the latest initiative will stop government negotiating contracts that represent poor value for money and that it will make it easier for rival suppliers to compete.
