Laurence Ferry – författare

The National Audit Office has played an important role in the checks and balances of the UK parliamentary and political system over the last 40 years. This new book, more than just a history of the UK’s supreme audit institution, examines the very definition of accountability through both an historic and an academic lens, critically exploring questions about the role of audit in a democracy and how well it is working.

Holding Government to Account draws on several unique sources of evidence, including interviews with senior officials from the National Audit Office and the civil service, as well as senior parliamentarians with experience of the NAO’s relationships with government and legislature. These interviews are supplemented by an analysis of previously unpublished manuscript material in the National Archives, examination of NAO reports and parliamentary and other reports focused on accountability. The book begins with a history of the National Audit Office in the context of the UK’s wider history. It then offers an overview of the constitutional, political and human legacies of the Exchequer and Audit Department, followed by a close examination of the National Audit Office’s leadership and decision-making from inception in 1984 through to the present. The authors conclude with an exploration of the way in which the meaning of public sector audit has evolved over time, in accordance with its wider political, ideological and material context. In doing so, they demonstrate that any question about the National Audit Office’s future and organisation is really a question about what democracy and good government mean in a modern bureaucratic state.

Holding Government to Account will be of keen interest to students enrolled in courses on accounting, public administration, law and politics as well as to politicians, civil servants and Supreme Audit Institutions internationally.

The National Audit Office has played an important role in the checks and balances of the UK parliamentary and political system over the last 40 years. This new book, more than just a history of the UK’s supreme audit institution, examines the very definition of accountability through both an historic and an academic lens, critically exploring questions about the role of audit in a democracy and how well it is working.

Holding Government to Account draws on several unique sources of evidence, including interviews with senior officials from the National Audit Office and the civil service, as well as senior parliamentarians with experience of the NAO’s relationships with government and legislature. These interviews are supplemented by an analysis of previously unpublished manuscript material in the National Archives, examination of NAO reports and parliamentary and other reports focused on accountability. The book begins with a history of the National Audit Office in the context of the UK’s wider history. It then offers an overview of the constitutional, political and human legacies of the Exchequer and Audit Department, followed by a close examination of the National Audit Office’s leadership and decision-making from inception in 1984 through to the present. The authors conclude with an exploration of the way in which the meaning of public sector audit has evolved over time, in accordance with its wider political, ideological and material context. In doing so, they demonstrate that any question about the National Audit Office’s future and organisation is really a question about what democracy and good government mean in a modern bureaucratic state.

Holding Government to Account will be of keen interest to students enrolled in courses on accounting, public administration, law and politics as well as to politicians, civil servants and Supreme Audit Institutions internationally.

Public spending accounts for a significant share of national GDP and is perceived as a critically important way for overcoming periods of economic and social crisis, but is often criticised as inefficient and ineffective, giving raise to calls for new processes of reform. Because most public resources are raised through taxation from citizens and businesses, accountability and assurance are key in the democratic process, and auditing attempts to fulfil this public interest role. This in turn leaves public sector auditing under increasing public scrutiny and political pressure.

Through a comparative analysis of the development of auditing practices in governments across the globe, Auditing Practices in Local Governments: An International Comparison provides a contemporary overview of public sector auditing practices at both local and state level. By focusing on countries which have experienced differing implementation processes, and which are characterised by different administrative and political cultures, the authors provide a comparative analysis of countries across the globe, including major European states, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

Written by scholars and practitioners in the fields of public sector auditing, this first volume of Emerald Studies in Public Service Accounting and Accountability provides readers both researchers and practitioners with a thorough overview of international public sector auditing practice.

Public spending accounts for a significant share of national GDP and is perceived as a critically important way for overcoming periods of economic and social crisis, but is often criticised as inefficient and ineffective, giving raise to calls for new processes of reform. Because most public resources are raised through taxation from citizens and businesses, accountability and assurance are key in the democratic process, and auditing attempts to fulfil this public interest role. This in turn leaves public sector auditing under increasing public scrutiny and political pressure.

Through a comparative analysis of the development of auditing practices in governments across the globe, Auditing Practices in Local Governments: An International Comparison provides a contemporary overview of public sector auditing practices at both local and state level. By focusing on countries which have experienced differing implementation processes, and which are characterised by different administrative and political cultures, the authors provide a comparative analysis of countries across the globe, including major European states, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

Written by scholars and practitioners in the fields of public sector auditing, this first volume of Emerald Studies in Public Service Accounting and Accountability provides readers both researchers and practitioners with a thorough overview of international public sector auditing practice.