Performance reviews can seem like practising scales on the piano: vital but dull and time-consuming. However, they are an opportunity to set the tone, fine-tune the goals and bring out the virtuoso...
Next year councils take charge of business rates and council tax support. As the levels of both are heavily dependent on changes in local economies, finance departments will have to keep one step...
Former CIPFA president Caroline Gardner is back at Audit Scotland, sowing the seeds of good financial management and tackling the public sector’s perennial problems. She tells PF that her past...
The greatest risk in the process of closing the Audit Commission is that functions will ‘fall between gaps’, the proposed next chair of the spending watchdog has told MPs.
As the Audit Commission prepares to bow out, incoming controller Marcine Waterman explains how it is going back to its regulatory roots while continuing to protect public money and audit quality
The Scottish Government has been urged to address ‘significant weaknesses’ in public sector IT programmes after Audit Scotland revealed delays and cost overruns across three schemes.
The proportion of honours awarded to civil servants and other public sector workers should be ‘rebalanced’ with those given to people who volunteer in their local communities, MPs have recommended.
Councils could mitigate the cut in Council Tax Benefit funding by tackling fraud and error when they take over the system next year, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said yesterday.
Local authority spending data is being released without town halls ensuring that it is ‘fit for purpose’, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee revealed today.
Government reforms will cut the cost of public sector pensions by 40% over the next 50 years, according to forecasts published by the Office of Budget Responsibility today.
Conflict is part of everyday life and when handled well can lead to new and creative ways forward. Pam Jones explores some tips to make life easier when the going gets tough
A summary of the Whole of Government Accounts for 2010/11 is due to be published next week and the full audited accounts in October, the Treasury official responsible revealed yesterday
The quality of government reporting, auditing and financial management is the biggest challenge facing the public finance profession right now, the new CIPFA president told the conference this...
The finance function in the public sector is being held back by a lack of skills and resources, a survey by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers has found.
Sir Tony Redmond could have been a dancer but chose a career in local government instead. Dancing’s loss was accountancy’s gain, and now he is taking on a fresh challenge – becoming CIPFA president...
Almost two-thirds of school bursars and business managers believe their pay is too low for the responsibility they carry, according to a survey by the National Association of Head Teachers.
