Councils to face Citizen's Charter efficiency test

AN INFORMATION revolution that will give the public the right to know how effectively local councils, the police and fire services spend public money was promised by the Government yesterday, writes Nick Cohen.

The government-appointed Audit Commission issued for consultation 152 benchmarks to judge quality and cost. Each council will have to test its work against these 'performance indicators' and publish the results in the press.

If the scheme is a success, it may be extended to Whitehall departments, the commission said. William Waldegrave, the Citizen's Charter minister, added that for the first time the public would have readily accessible information about local authority standards. But councils called the indicators crude, biased and foolish.

Flood of information, page 4