Council Spending Scanner
Councils in England publish every payment over a set amount under the Local Government Transparency Code. This tool reads those published files, prepared ahead of time, and shows where the published numbers do not add up on their own terms. Each check is one stated rule, run the same way for every council. It never says why a number looks the way it does; it shows the numbers and leaves the council to explain.
A discrepancy here is a fact about the published numbers, not proof of an error or wrongdoing. Councils publish corrections, instalments, and VAT treatments that can look like a mismatch until explained. If you intend to raise this with the council or its auditor, ask for the records and the reason, not for an admission.
The Council Spending Scanner runs on your own device, inside this tab. Starting it downloads the .NET runtime that does the work (about 11 MB the first time, then a small list of councils); your browser keeps it for next time.
What these words mean
- Exception
- The umbrella word for anything a check flags: a row or group of rows that fails a defined test against the published data. An exception is not an accusation; it is a fact about the numbers as published.
- Discrepancy
- The published record contradicts itself: a payment that does not match its own stated invoice amount, the same line listed more than once, or one transaction number covering more than one payee or pay date.
- Unreconciled
- The published payments for a transaction do not add up to the invoice amount the file states for it, under any of the rules the checks apply. The file does not say why.
- Anomaly
- A pattern, not a contradiction: the same supplier, amount, description and date appear more than once under different transaction numbers.