There is an old adage that providing stacks of data without explanation or context is like pulling carrots out of the ground and leaving them there covered in mud. Neither the data, or the carrots, in that state are much use.

However that does not mean transparency should be discouraged, only made more accessible. So fair do's to the Treasury for annually releasing its Whole of Government Accounts (WGA), a 219-page blockbuster which consolidates the audited accounts of 6,000 public sector organisations and whose report on 2014/15 came out last month. It may not be the most riveting read but at least it appears and has done so for six years.