Financial Management in Government – after the Treasury’s Review, What Next?

In December last year the Treasury published its financial management review, which recommended combining the existing role of Head of the Government Finance Profession with that of the Treasury’s Director General responsible for Public Spending.

The Institute for Government’s response made clear that the role required someone with experience of leading a large, distributed finance function. Furthermore, for the plan to succeed, the appointee would require support from the top of Whitehall and the departments.

Our event, ‘Financial Management in Government – after the Treasury’s Review, What Next?’ considered the challenges that will face the new appointee. Chief among them will be the Spending Review immediately after the 2015 general election. Previous research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and IfG concluded that 2020 is also likely to be an austerity election.

Richard Douglas, introducing the discussion, highlighted the need for consistency across Whitehall finance departments to aid spending analysis.

Sharon White, Second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, outlined her vision where the finance chief would sit at the minister’s right hand during budget discussions, and play an altogether more strategic role in their departments.

Keith Luck, from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants provided the audience with anecdotes from his background as a Whitehall finance professional in the Foreign Office.