DH energy use made public

The Department of Health faces the prospect of having its energy consumption and green credentials laid bare, thanks to the latest initiative in open government.

The NHS is under intense scrutiny by the coalition government, over its allegedly profligate spending on management consultants and hospital building.

But now the health service’s senior brass may be held accountable for switching off the lights.

Thanks to data.gov.uk health ministers and senior civil servants at Richmond House, the DH’s mock-Tudor London HQ, will be subject to public scrutiny over its energy use and CO2 emissions.

The data (with a 24-hour delay) is now available online at data.gov.uk, which is publishing figures for the DH, No 10 and other Whitehall departments.

Launched at the end of July, the datastream is labelled ‘DH Richmond House real time energy usage’ .

The site invites comments or suggestions on how the data might be used or mashed up with other indicators. Readers are invited to submit their ideas first to EHI.