Boris Johnson's 'virements'

Courtesy of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson's new initiative to launch a public archive of data and information about London, I learned a new word today:

Virements

Apparently, it's what was required to fund the Story of London in June 2009: 'To approve a budget of £165,000 for the Story of London from the core GLA (greater London Authrity) budget, to make the appropriate budget virements and any other necessary budget adjustments.'

The new, online London Datastore (data.london.gov.uk) is promised to be a 'treasure trove of civic information' about London, launching officially on Jan 29. If you want to see the history of the Mayor's decisions since coming to office or even the population changes in Ealing and the City of London since 1881, it's a useful and sometimes interesting resource. Meanwhile, I'll keep making those virements to try to balance my own books.