CONTRACT details with Gloucestershire County Council could be made public in a bid for further transparency and accountability.

Sarah Lunnon (Green, Stroud Central), wrote a proposal which opposes the mass censorship of information contained in council contracts.

It was debated today and was seconded by Cllr Mike Sztymiak (Independent, Tewksbury).

Cllr Lunnon, the council’s only green councillor, said: “This motion is about a basic understanding of fairness, that those paying the bill be allowed to see and understand exactly what they are buying.

“It will also enable the public or their representatives to spot misuse of public funds.”

The proposal intends to make all contracting processes over £1million available to the public by the end of 2017, and all processes over £500 by the end of 2018.

She said: "We the public are paying for a large number of contracted services - but are denied access to financial details, changes to services and numerous other details.

"We shouldn't have to take to the streets or the courts to pursue Freedom of Information requests to see contracts signed in our name."

The aim is to only censor information when it is explicitly requested or if it isn’t deemed in the public interest - full justifications must be given.

Council leader Mark Hawthorne (Con, Quedgeley) said: “If there’s scope to improve things, it’s legal and doesn’t take money from frontline services, I’m happy to look into it in more detail.”

The issue has been passed to the council's Constitution Committee.