Under the new quarterly data summary (QDS) framework departments’ spending data is published every quarter; to show the taxpayer how the government is spending their money.
The QDS grew out of commitments made in the 2011 Budget and the written ministerial statement on business plans. For the financial year 2012 to 2013 the QDS has been revised and improved in line with action 9 of the Civil Service Reform Plan to provide a common set of data that will enable comparisons of operational performance across government so that departments and individuals can be held to account.
The QDS breaks down the total spend of the department in 3 ways: by budget, by internal operation and by transaction.
The QDS template is the same for all departments, though the individual detail of grants and policy will differ from department to department. In using this data:
- people should ensure they take full note of the caveats noted in each department’s return
- as the improvement of the QDS is an ongoing process data quality and completeness will be developed over time and therefore necessary caution should be applied to any comparative analysis undertaken.
Please note that the quarter 1 2012 to 2013 return for Department of Transport is for the core department only.
Information on GOV.UK about the business plan quarterly data summary at Department for Transport.
