IT has long been established that members of the public have a right to examine council accounts.

The Audit Commission Act 1998 and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 make provision for electors to inspect and make copies of council accounts.

This includes all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts.

It only excludes information of a personal nature, such as payroll records of individuals.

Why then did waste company Veolia Environment Services challenge what should be disclosed to the public?

It wanted details of what it charges Notts County Council per tonne for managing its rubbish, recycling and composting to be kept secret.

It argued that a more liberal definition of information to be disclosed compromised its commercial position.

But it is hard to see how.

Residents have a right to see documents during an audit. It is, after all, their money. The Veolia contract is worth £850m and spans 26 years.

The company says it brought the case to clarify the situation.

In a sense the company should be thanked – this is a precedent-setting case and we now have clarity.

In his finding the judge said that if Veolia was right, few documents could ever be inspected.

The ground-breaking ruling upholds our democratic right to know how our money is being spent and whether we are getting value for money.