The government minister in charge of town halls has praised a regional daily’s campaign to open them up to greater public scrutiny.

The Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph launched its Your Right to Know campaign last week in a bid to encourage councils and other public bodies to be more open about their dealings

Over the past seven days the newspaper has published a series of revelations about the way councils, health trusts and the police have spent taxpayers’ money.

At the same time, it has challenged organisations to give information about issues it thought would be of interest to readers and asked them to send in their own questions.

Yesterday, the campaign won the backing of communities secretary Eric Pickles whose brief includes local government.

He said: “I’m delighted to support the Evening Telegraph’s Your Right to Know campaign calling for local councils to make all their information available for public scrutiny.

“Openness is an essential part of modern democracy. The taxpayer has a right to see where their money is being spent, and to make sure it’s being spent on the right priorities.

“That’s why I’ve asked all councils to publish everything they spend over £500 online by the end of the month.”

Editor Jeremy Clifford said: “This was a totally unsolicited endorsement from the Government Minister, following a week’s worth of exclusive revelations about the way public money had been spent by local councils, hospitals and the police.

“We understand from his office that he has also requested to write a personal letter about our campaign in the next week or so. Of course we welcome that, but what is more important to us is that our campaign has attracted national attention.

“The Your Right to Know campaign is a year-long series of articles based on our own journalists’ investigative work but also encouraging our readers to write to us to investigate on their behalf.

“It is driven by a need to alter the focus of our journalism to give readers information and news that is not being provided by other media organisations.”