Local government finance
Skills for the future
- Hub page
- 25 Oct 2024
Improving financial skills is critical in balancing the books and delivering value for citizens. As backstop dates for audited accounts come into force, ICAEW explores how local authorities can strengthen their approach to financial management.
Browse resourcesInsights
UK Auditor General calls for step change in government financial management
- Article
- 16 Feb 2026
Head of the National Audit Office, Gareth Davies, echoes ICAEW in calling for stronger financial management in government to deliver trust and accountability for taxpayers.
Budget expected to have negative impact on businesses, says ICAEW
- Article
- 04 Dec 2025
An ICAEW poll has found that close to three-quarters of respondents agreed the Budget would negatively impact their organisation.
NAO: Climate reporting has honed public bodies’ risk radar
- Article
- 01 Dec 2025
In the course of preparing for mandatory climate disclosures, central government bodies have improved their risk-management procedures and other operations, says report.
Economy explainers: what is the public balance sheet?
- Article
- 28 Nov 2025
What is the 'public balance sheet' and what does it mean for people and businesses? ICAEW experts offer this simple guide on the public balance sheet – the government’s assets and liabilities – why they matter and the future outlook.
Skills for the future
Improving financial skills is critical in balancing the books and delivering value for citizens. As backstop dates for audited accounts come into force, ICAEW explores how local authorities can strengthen their approach to financial management.
Strengthening financial expertise across local government
- Article
- 25 Oct 2024
Marking the launch of a series of best practice case studies, Alison Ring OBE FCA CPFA, ICAEW Director of Public Sector & Taxation, shares the vital role that finance teams play in local government.
How successful finance business partners work at local authorities
- Article
- 21 Nov 2024
Finance business partners play a vital bridging role between the finance team and the wider organisation.
How to ensure colleagues understand financial information
- Article
- 27 Nov 2024
With local government budgets under pressure and more councils adopting commercialisation strategies, key stakeholders must have a strong grasp of financial information to aid sound decision-making.
How to prepare for an external audit in local government
- Article
- 03 Dec 2024
The mounting backlog in the publication of audited council accounts has shone the spotlight on external audit processes in local government.
Highlights
Public funds fraud cost taxpayers £81bn, NAO says
- Article
- 04 Dec 2024
The National Audit Office outlines the impact of fraud and error on public funds, how public bodies can tackle fraud and error and the NAO’s efforts to reduce the impact of fraud.
Protecting public funds: tackling procurement fraud
- Article
- 24 Jan 2025
Valued at trillions of dollars per year, public procurement spending is a magnet for fraud. At a recent ICAEW event, leading experts shared insights on how to combat the problem.
MPs sceptical about Office for Value for Money impact
- Article
- 23 Jan 2025
A lack of resources, a short lifespan and high risk of duplication has left MPs on the Treasury Committee sceptical about the OVfM achieving its objectives.
NAO guide to aid financial management in government
- Article
- 30 Jan 2025
The latest in a series of best practice guides brings together feedback from experts including ICAEW and highlights the need to spend smarter against a backdrop of tight public funds.
Demystifying the role of NEDs in the public sector
- Article
- 21 May 2024
Chartered accountants possess many of the skills required to be an effective NED in the public sector. We explain what the role entails, how interested members can find vacancies and why they are so desperately needed.
Whole government response essential to local authorities’ financial sustainability
- Article
- 03 Mar 2025
Pressured public services and repeated delays to reform the funding system are contributing to local authorities’ finances becoming unsustainable, National Audit Office (NAO) report warns.
Reports and analysis
ICAEW responds to Fabian Society pamphlet: ‘Prizing the Public Pound’
- Article
- 10 Aug 2021
ICAEW engages with the Fabian Society and their pamphlet ‘Prizing the Public Pound’ on local audit and spending effectiveness in central government, in which they call for a future Labour government to reorganise, revitalise and expand public audit in England.
Managing the public balance sheet
- Article
- 16 Nov 2017
An ICAEW policy insight aimed at helping governments and parliaments understand how good balance sheet management can improve the overall management of the public finances.
Public money for the public good
- Article
- 05 Jun 2018
The role of professional accountants is fundamentally about creating trust. Trust that numbers are correctly stated and that a true and fair account has been produced, showing what money has been raised and how that money has been used.
The debt of nations
- Report
- 17 Apr 2018
A decade after the corporate debt crisis, public debt is at an all-time high and continues to rise. The potential for a global public debt crisis should not be ignored. ICAEW shares policy insight.
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