As internal audit becomes ever more vital, CIPFA is consulting on the main requirements for the head of the department Read more...
Opinion about Professional issues
GP-led commissioning: quality is key, by Nick Goodwin
The new coalition government is embarking on one of the most radical reform programmes that the NHS has ever seen. Strategic health authorities will be phased out and the role and power of PCTs will be considerably downsized. The NHS will be given new leadership in the form of an independent board while commissioning – and responsibility for the £80 billion budget that comes with this – will be devolved to GPs. Read more...
25 June 2010 | Nick Goodwin
Risky business, by Nigel Keogh
Pension funds face threats relating to inflation, interest rates and longevity – all of which can be mitigated in new ways Read more...
3 June 2010 | Nigel Keogh
On the paper trail, by John Kirkpatrick
Public bodies spend £765m a year on printing, stationery and general office expenses, and almost £1.5bn on computers. Some pay more than others for the same things, but just signing up to a collaborative procurement arrangement with your neighbours won’t necessarily save you money unless you manage it well, says John Kirkpatrick at the Audit Commission Read more...
24 May 2010 | John Kirkpatrick
Watch where the axe falls, by Andrew Jepp
Cutting staff might seem an easy way to reduce council spending but it can cost more than it saves, says Andrew Jepp in the latest of PF’s occasional series of sponsored columns Read more...
8 April 2010 | Andrew Jepp
International rescue, by Peter Boulding
The UK needs assistance of Thunderbirds proportions to meet its overseas aid targets, but CIPFA is ‘go’ to help achieve them Read more...
8 April 2010 | Peter Boulding
No time to ditch national pay, by Alastair Hatchett
Local bargaining has been seen as a solution to unfair regional wage levels, but the argument makes many false assumptions Read more...
18 March 2010 | Alastair Hatchett
Standards must be slipping
I was bemused and then angered by the article in which Bharat Shah from the Audit Commission warned local government of the impending deadline for preparing accounts to the new International Financial Reporting Standards, and the dire consequences of not doing so (‘Running out of time’, February 19–25). Read more...
18 March 2010 | Reader letter
Gold standards, by Paul Mason
Implementing new financial reporting codes will not be all downhill for councils, but they are nearing the end of the run Read more...
11 March 2010 | Paul Mason
Unpicking pay levels, by Duncan Brown
Disgraceful isn’t it, what those public sector managers are paying themselves these days? Who would believe that we have a record public sector deficit forecast to reach almost £200 billion, yet those nice people at the Taxpayers Alliance tell us that there is “an explosion” in the numbers of public servants paid over £100,000, over 1,000 of them in fact. Their Public Sector and Town Halls’ Rich List shows that 12 local authority and NHS trust chief executives are even paid more than the Prime Minister! As we know, his salary of £197,000 is a wonderful benchmark, given how much prime ministers can earn in their subsequent careers. Read more...
22 February 2010 | Duncan Brown
Regulation as standard, by Mandy Bretherton
With MPs calling for treasury management advice to be regulated, CIPFA is releasing a bulletin on the rules Read more...
11 February 2010 | Mandy Bretherton
Share and share alike, by Steve Freer
Sharing and collaboration between public bodies is not a new idea but there are real grounds for optimism that it is an idea whose time has come. Read more...
21 January 2010 | Steve Freer
Property is nine-tenths of the savings, by Rob Oldham
Conservative proposals to transfer public sector property to a new company are all about incentives – incentives to release space and sell surplus assets. Success relies on exposing public sector decision makers to the forces of the property market. Read more...
1 December 2009 | Rob Oldham
Are we there yet? By Paul Mason
The road to International Financial Reporting Standards is a long one but we are getting much nearer to the destination Read more...
6 November 2009 | Paul Mason
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