Compulsory Competitive Tendering And Local Government Financial Services: An Analysis Of The Views Of Local Government Accountants In The North West Of England

Between 1979 and 1997, successive Conservative governments sought to reduce the scale of public sector activity and to introduce competition in the provision of public sector services. A central feature of this policy was the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT). CCT was initially confined to blue collar services but, by means of the Local Government Act 1992, it was extended to white collar, professional services, including financial services. However, though potentially extremely significant, the support for and implications of such a policy are issues which have been inadequately researched. Because of this, research has been under-taken into financial services CCT and has included a questionnaire survey of 300 professionally qualified accountants employed in 17 local authorities in the North West of England, drawn from county councils, district councils and metropolitan authorities. The article presents the findings of the survey, with a particular focus on the views of accountants on CCT in general and financial services CCT in particular. In addition, it provides evidence that the CCT process, irrespective of views on CCT and its appropriateness for specific activities, has changed culture and attitudes in the case of local government finance professionals.     

On The Nature Of Audit Judgements: The Case Of Value For Money Studies

The National Audit Office (NAO) undertakes Value For Money (VFM) studies, which are used as the basis of evidence in hearings of the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts. VFM studies are therefore integral to the process of accountability of public bodies to Parliament for their use of resources. This paper examines the production of VFM studies by the NAO, and in particular the ways in which audit teams arrive at their judgements. It introduces a theoretical frame-work which highlights: (i) the interplay of intuitive and analytical thinking as VFM teams assemble and interpret data and, (ii) the ways in which teams use three distinct types of judgement criterion in studies, based on the use of multiple empirical indicators about some event, the logical coherence of the auditee's behaviour, and consensus about 'what actually happened'.     

Policy Network Transformation: The Implementation Of The Ec Directive On Packaging And Packaging Waste

Policy network analysis has been criticized for failing to adopt a sufficiently dynamic approach to the study of policy-making processes. There have been, however, a number of studies illustrating how policy networks change, recognizing that they are not static entities but respond to changes in the policy environment. This article applies policy network analysis to the negotiation of plans to implement the 1994 EC Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive in the UK and provides a further contribution to the literature on the formation and transformation of policy networks. The analysis reveals significant changes in the structure and operation of the policy network during the period studied. The reasons for such changes confirm those put forward by other policy network analysts, such as the power of the actors involved and conflicts between them. Other reasons include the role of the government and the tight schedule laid out by the directive.     

From Witchcraft to Proposed Twenty-First Century Reforms: The Ongoing Saga of Training and Development in Canadian Government

[In the federal government of Canada] … up to ten or fifteen years ago, the use of the title personnel officer or training officer would have been sufficient to have one tried for witchcraft.1 Cloutier, S. 1972. “The personnel revolution: an interim report, 1965”. In The Biography of an Institution: The Civil Service Commission of Canada, 1908–1967 Edited by: Hodgetts, J.E., McCloskey, W., Whittaker, Reginald and Wilson, V. Seymour. 457 ppLondon and Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.  [Google Scholar] a ^aNote: (a) In Canada the terms, “Civil Service” and “Public Service,” are used synonymously. (b) Values are defined in this article as enduring beliefs that influence the choices we make from available means and ends.

—Commissioner Sylvain Cloutier of the federal Civil Service Commission, June 19, 1965. (Comment attributed to CH Bland, Chairman of the Public Service Commission of Canada)