Government spending data: What you spotted

Details of all government spending over £25,000 since May's general election have been published. Here are some of the items you have spotted in the data so far.

What I have spotted is total hypocrisy. The Government insist local councils disclose everything over £500, then think they can get away with only disclosing sums over £25000. Tom, Winchester

Having looked at sections, especially with the private contracts, we do not know exactly what it was spent on, so how can we know if it is value for money? Frank, Somerset

How is it necessary to pay out £962 million in five months on IT related projects? I'm a contractor and estimator and I wouldn't dream of paying these figures. Steve C, Bristol

This will become many times worse next year when the government plans to force departments to publish copies of all tenders, contracts and other documents relating to this expenditure. If we want to save money, stop wasting time publishing data that few can understand and even fewer have an interest in. Peter Smith, Bristol

This transparency agenda is crazy for two key reasons. Firstly because the data is meaningless and there is far too much of it. Secondly because it costs a huge amount of time (and therefore cost) for civil service employees to compile. I know this because I work for a major government department and have seen the impact. John, Bristol

Why can't we have the same information regarding Brussels expenditure? This will far outway the costs of the tiny UK. Rosa, London

I have looked through them and it is obvious that Cameron is spending as much as the previous government, releasing the information does not make it justified. G.M Waddington, Messingham, North Lincs

This list just confirms that the people who ok this kind of spending do not live in the real world. Linda, Kingston, Surrey

They are spending an awful lot on American Credit Reference Agencies and Publicity firms. Given that Credit Reference is an utter scam - why? Anonymous

BBSRC September 25k Spend. Nearly 100k to the Hull Uni in 'Bank Errors'! Thought that we had given them enough! Tim Simpson, Bagshot, Surrey

£170,000 on bottled water? Now that really is having a laugh. Our tap water is clean enough to drink and actually better for you than bottled water. It really is time that this marketing cash crop was knocked on the head, and government should catch up with the rest of the more sensible members of the public who always request tap water in restaurants. This unnecessary expense is outrageous. Maggi Cook, Ashford

I am interested in how much the NHS pays its external contractors ie GPs, dentists and opticians. These are all private, non-NHS, profit-making contractors that the government has decided will receive the bulk of the NHS budget. However some PCTs have chosen to reveal the extent of the monthly contract payments to practices whilst others have not. This is a substantial part of monthly expenditure, judging by those that have declared - it seems an average sized PCT can pay anything up to £4m or more per month. This seems to me that, although there is a rush to get the data published, there is no central guidance to say what must and what must not be published, too much opportunity for local, "political" decisions to be made. Anonymous, Taunton, Somerset

I realise we cannot contextualise based on the fact that the coalition hasn't published enough supporting information, but I am struggling to understand why in these austere times Preston City Council would need to pay over £23,000 to the Liverpool Philharmonic Society in one month alone? (October). It seems ridiculous to me that frontline services are being cut left, right and centre, yet a few talented people on some instruments get the equivalent of a new police officers salary? I am all for culture, but come on! Jamie, Preston, Lancashire

Prince Charles got a cheque from the Ministry of Justice for £667,000 - rent for Dartmoor prison, which is on his land. He was also paid £677,000 by the Army for access to Dartmoor. When will the Royal family stop earning from land their ancestors stole? Why do we the taxpayer continue to fund them? Why should they be recession proof? Neal Jeffery, London

Interesting stuff. Although how much of the (shocking) £3.3 billion to Capita is actually "mark up" or profit? Probably about 40%. Don't we have a civil service to provide public services profit free? Why should we as taxpayers line the pockets of big business? James Beeching, Taunton, Somerset

So Her Majesty's Government has paid vast sums to people who suffered from miscarriage of justice. Add that on to the fees paid to the lawyers who prosecuted the case in the first instance, and the result is a huge amount of cash "wasted". The beneficiaries appear to be the legal profession - again. Martin Levin, London

Searched on "flowers" and result was £1.34m. Without context this figure is meaningless. I'm sure the spending relates to fiscally responsible and necessary spending. Some may not see it that way. Hockin, Canterbury, Kent

I did notice over £1 million on government cars. I thought that one of the first things boy David said he was going to do was get rid of these. Also there is an interesting point on privatisation of the NHS. Just how much will private practices have to disclose about how they are spending our money? Same goes for most other areas where private companies will be taking over. Kevin Norris

I find some of the application of the rules interesting… if I want to hide a project that is a frivolous excess of 99K all I have to do is four invoices (one per quarter) and only list invoices over 25K. Dan, London