Getting the GIST on government spending?

Did you know that DFID cost each person in the country £97 last year? Or that the DWP spent £173 billion in 2012-13? Or that the BBC cost each person £21.59 last quarter? Well, you do now thanks to GIST, the government’s new spending website launched today. In an attempt to fix the messy Data.gov.uk, GIST ‘presents government spending data in a clear, intuitive and user-friendly way’, according to the Cabinet Office. It is, apparently, the most advanced site of its kind in the world. Taxpayers, journalists and politicos can now all see where and how the government spends our money — at least that’s the theory. The hip kids at the Government Data Service (who brought you GOV.UK) and the Cabinet Office has undertaken the arduous task of compiling spending data across all government departments in a consistent and highly visual format. Take a look at how spending for all departments last quarter is displayed on central accounts reporting (OSCAR) section:

The problem with GIST is that explorers can only drill down through two more levels of spending.