West Sussex County Council has given members of the public live access to their key data files.

Although the dashboard does not contain some key performance data, it is a step in the right direction towards a transparent authority.

As well as displaying its own data, the dashboard shows data from other county councils, allowing direct comparisons between East and West Sussex.

Residents in West Sussex can now hold the council to account in issues where they are failing to reach their own targets.

The same data for Brighton and Hove City Council and East Sussex County Council is available through Freedom of Information requests and quarterly reports but the West Sussex dashboard allows people to access the data they require in minutes, rather than hours or 20 working days.

Brighton and Hove and East Sussex must be under pressure to deliver the same kind of access that their neighbours have.

Until then, West Sussex can rightly claim to be the most transparent council in the county.