What seems to have attracted very little attention these days is the plan by the UK government to open up its accounts to the public. The project is named Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) and the first year of accounts will be published for the year 2009-10. It is a welcome move for those who yearn for a more open government, and those that accuse the bureaucracies of massive waste.

What is astonishing is that the project will have taken 12 years from inception to the publishing of the first accounts. In the scoping study of July 1998, it was intended that the first fully published set of accounts would be available for the year 2005-6. Perhaps the delay came because of the project team’s stated aim of improving “Accountabilty to Parliament … with, for the first time, audited WGA financial statements available for scrutiny.” No doubt that this rattled a few department heads who have never been expected to open up the guts of their bureaucracies to such an extent.

The truth is, we shall never know why the delay has happened, and we can only hope there will be no more. The scoping report called for ‘dry-runs’ during 2001-2, and I have not been able to find any information on what happened to those, or whether a dry run is even planned anymore. I am, however encouraged to see that the standard forms for submitting accounting information are now available, called ’s-packs’. You can have a look on the WGA guidance page - download the Excel file of the S-pack. You will be heartened by the level of detail that these accounts require. The guidance to departments on consolidating accounts are strong, which suggests that a full set of accounts is now imminent.

Despite the project’s delays and difficulties, the benefits to our democracy is huge. The most exciting prospect is in the creation of new opportunities for democratic participation. To most, it will be a most dull exercise to trawl through endless accounts, but to a dedicated few, the numbers will tell a story of how government departments run. I don’t suggest for a second that they will tell us everything, but an expensive scheme or department is likely to attract further enquiries. No longer will the public be confined to grumbling about government spending, but will be able to see it in all its glory (or gloom). Not only will we be asking ministers “Why…?” but “Why don’t you…?”.

Many of us want open government, but are not sure why. To me, it is about involving the public in its decision making process and improving accountability. There’s nothing quite as effective as a few million people scrutinising government actions, not just during elections, but all the time.

Have a look at the WGA page on the HM Treasury website:
Whole of Government Accounts index

This is slightly off-topic, but it’s one of those things that I feel very strongly about, and something that you can help with, just by knowing about it. I am sure that you’ve heard about the National ID Card scheme and the National Identity Register (NIR), with its claims to:

• stop terrorists
• catch criminals
• prevent fraud
• stop illegal immigration
• make it easier to set up bank accounts, etc.

This is all very good, and if it did those things, I think anyone would be at least tempted to get one, even if it does cost £300 each (according to the London School of Economics)! However, the government have a problem here, as quite a few people have pointed out:

• former MI5 spy chief Stella Rimington, has said that the scheme would be “absolutely useless” for catching terrorists. As far as she knows, no terrorist has ever tried to hide their identity since the IRA. In fact the July 7 bombers were specifically instructed to be seen by security cameras.
• catching criminals? Sounds great but I don’t understand how. The police have very few problems identifying criminals.
• prevent fraud - the government have been selling the benefits fraud argument. While this is a problem, by the government’s own admission, the overwhelming majority of benefit fraud is about over-claiming, not who’s claiming. Furthermore, the National Identity Register is going to be a goldmine for ID fraudsters. Today they can use your name, date of birth and address. With the NIR they’ll be able to use your biometric data (which you can’t change).
• illegal immigration is run by traffickers and employers who have no regard for the law. There’s no reason why an ID card would have ANY effect.
• setting up bank accounts! At last! Something that could actually happen as a result of ID cards! (note: setting up a bank account without your ID card will become more difficult) In 2010, the government are in line to get students and young people to enroll on the ID scheme, in the hope that it will help them to set up bank accounts. The rest of us will be next.

So reading this, you’ll be thinking either I am a extremely biased and lying fool, or that the ID scheme is not all that it’s cracked up to be. I believe that everyone needs to wise up to the fact that the key selling points of the ID scheme, is exactly that - it’s a marketing strategy. If you want to push something through in today’s parliament, you need only say:

• stop terrorism!
• control immigration!
• tough on crime!
• save the environment!

And what is worse, is that the majority of us, who do not have time to scrutinize the laws that come out of Parliament just nod our heads, in apathetic agreement. Looking at the details of the scheme, we must ask ourselves what it is actually for? I’m really quite stumped on this one - I haven’t a clue why it will be useful. I hope someone can enlighten me. Here are some of the facts that have been rather difficult to market, from the government’s own literature:

• People who refuse to register for the government’s planned ID card scheme could face a “civil financial penalty” of up to £2,500
• People would be fined up to £1,000 for failing to return a dead relative’s ID card
• women who marry will have to pay at least £30 for a new card if they want to use their married name, risking a £1,000 fine if they do not comply
• Failure to update the details on the NIR will result in a £1000 fine
• You either get an ID card, or your life will become increasingly difficult or impossible. That is the option.

Please do some research for yourself. The No2ID campaign, although perhaps biased, is completely honest about the facts. Do visit them. The Identity bill has already passed; only a new bill can reverse it - which is unlikely. You probably won’t be able to stop it legally, and it will arrive by stealth, packaged as something else. So I’m afraid that we as citizens have only the one option, and it’s my least favourite action for any issue: dissent. There are 40,000 people who have grudgingly chosen this action in the absence of any other option except complete compliance.

For the record, I will not co-operate with any form of ID tagging. I will be liable for the £2500 fine as a result, and on refusal to pay, I will be sent to court - me and 40,000 others. It will be a sad day when it is people that serve the state, rather than the other way around.

Links

:
No2ID website
Government ID card website - at the time of writing, due to the government’s IT problems, it was inaccessible.

This is a seed. Let a great tree grow from it.