Audit Wales reports that the Welsh Government’s Test, Trace, Protect programme has developed well and effectively learnt lessons from earlier peaks of COVID-19.

An extra four months was not sufficient as the NAO reports that 55% of local authorities’ March 2020 accounts had not received an audit opinion by the revised deadline of 30 November 2020.

A potential shortage of senior public sector talent is looming after C-level executives who postponed their retirement during the pandemic look set to step back this year.

The NAO reports that 94% of county and unitary authority chief finance officers expect to cut service budgets in 2021-22.

What does the pandemic mean for attitudes to risk and for the social contract that has underpinned the free market?, asks ICAEW President David Matthews

19 November 2020: 8,600 pandemic-related contracts worth £18bn were entered into in the period up to 31 July 2020, but a lack of transparency in how they were awarded has given rise to serious concerns about how public money has been spent.

17 November 2020: Croydon Council has gone into section 114 ‘bankruptcy’ following years of overspending, losses on commercial investments and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. What went wrong?

3 November 2020: The Cabinet Office has announced new guidance on procurement for government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

21 October 2020: Recent reports on the commercial activities of local councils in Wales and Spelthorne Borough Council’s £1bn commercial property bet highlight the pressures local authority finances are under.

16 September: The National Audit Office has issued a report on the £20m cost of exiting the failed Magnox contract to decommission nuclear research sites and power stations.

15 September: Making better use of public data could benefit the economy, public services and the quality of peoples’ lives – so can the UK Government’s long-awaited National Data Strategy deliver this? Alison Ring, Director for Public Sector at ICAEW examines the proposals.

1 July 2020: One of the legacies of the COVID-19 crisis could be a stronger push towards e-government around the world. Estonia is a case in point.

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.

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.

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.

In this publication, we explore the drivers for strong financial leadership and the skills and competences that, in our view, a strong finance leader should have.

Sustainable Public Finances: EU Perspectives. Synopsis of discussion on 8 November 2016

Summary of the new framework guidance document Building blocks to better PFM – A cash to accruals accounting toolkit.

Insights from senior European public finance professionals

Public Sector Summary