A COUNCIL says it is adhering to data protection laws by redacting some payments to suppliers it publishes on its website.

Durham County Council has been criticised by Liberal Democrat councillor Mark Wilkes who claims tens of millions of pounds is being paid out each year by the authority with no public record of whom it is being paid to.

Coun Wilkes, who represents Framwellgate Moor, said: “If someone is doing a job for the council and is being paid for it why should their name not be published?

“It is tax payers money that we are talking about here and it’s an issue of transparency.”

Jenny Haworth, Durham County Council’s head of planning and performance, said: “The council publishes data on expenditure over £500 related to third party transactions.

“In publishing this data, we comply with national government guidance which requires us to exclude or redact several categories of data in order to comply with the Data Protection Act.

“This includes removing names of individual citizens in line with the guidance. "We do leave names in where they relate to a sole trader rather than a person acting in a private capacity.”