Welcome
'The budget is a contract between the citizens and state, showing how resources are raised and allocated for the delivery of public services' - OECD
Course Overview
The effective management of finances is a fundamental function for any organisation but particularly so in the public sector. Governments, under the scrutiny of the citizens they represent, are increasingly under pressure to improve public services whilst at the same time identifying ways to cut spending and increase efficiency.
This programme recognises these difficulties and ensures that participants leave the programme with a full understanding of effective financial management in the public sector - including budgeting systems, auditing, preparing financial statements and tracking expenditure. This programme has also been designed with the view that there is no 'off the shelf' budget methodology; different organisations require different approaches and this programme will analyse a number of methodologies, comparing their strengths and weaknesses so participants can make an informed decision as to which is most suitable for their organisation.
The Institute of Management and Leadership (ILM) has approved this training course. ILM combines years of research, knowledge and innovation to champion the leadership agenda for all and since 1947 they have carried out extensive research into the knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviours and values of great leadership. Based on ILM’s core leadership values, this course meets the standard that enables learners who have completed to access the following benefits:
- Membership of ILM and will receipt of an ICPS/ ILM joint Certificate of achievement for the course
- Access to a raft of resources to help you with your continuing professional development, including an award-winning library of e-learning content
- A community of over 30,000 members worldwide enabling you to collaborate and grow your knowledge and skills
- Receipt of weekly news updates, podcasts and cutting-edge research and a monthly published journal and invitations to topical webinars
- Authorisation to use approved letters AMInstLM (Associate Member of The Institute of Leadership and Management) after your name for business correspondence
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course the delegates will be able to:
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Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of different budget methodologies
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Assess how public services are financed
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Scrutinise the oversight of budgets
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Learn how to manage cash flow and debt
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Align budgets to outputs instead of inputs
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Recognise the benefits of accrual over cash based accounting
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Identify the role of Parliament in budget approval and oversight
Agenda
Day 1
Key concepts and facts in public finance
The budget process
Strategic planning & budgeting
Public Expenditure Reviews
Incremental budgeting
Zero based budgeting
Performance Based Budgeting and Programme budgeting
The Pillars of Budget accountability
Components of Fiscal Openness
Participatory budgeting
Evaluation of Fiscal Openness
Case discussion: fiscal openness in the UK
Day 2
Fiscal space and fiscal risk
The impact of the Global Financial Crisis on budgeting
Recognising and managing risks
Contingency budgeting
Case discussion: appraising fiscal risk in the UK
Budget execution cycle and controls Financial planning: debt and cash management Budget monitoring and budget adjustments Fraud and corruption Comparative institutional practices
Procurement: rationale for partnerships
Types of partnership
Commissioning and partnership management
Evaluation of partnerships
Case study: Carillion in the UK
Costing methods
Project appraisal techniques
Cost Benefit analysis
Financial decision making
Day 3
Systems of accounts
Accruals v cash-based accounting
Challenges to Implementing accruals accounting and how to overcome them
Progress of Governments in Implementing accruals accounting
Overview of public sector financial reporting
Examples of public sector financial reports
Providing a comprehensive account of public finances
Examples of public sector financial reports
Financial oversight of public funds
Public sector audit
The audit of financial statements
Auditing regularity and propriety
Auditing performance
Day 4
Tax basics: purposes and types
Key issues in tax
Fiscal policy
Tax trends
Case discussion: tax reform in GCC countries
Overview of non-tax revenue sources
Charging for services
Resource revenues
Sovereign wealth funds
Revenue from donors
Funding of sub-national government
Vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalances
Case discussion: local government finance in the UK
Day 5
Aims of monitoring and evaluation
Types of evaluation
Programme theory
Evaluation methods
Data collection and analysis
Case discussion: evaluation of regeneration programmes in Scotland
Structuring a written piece of work for assessment: generic overview and principles
Structuring these two specific pieces of work to demonstrate all the assessment criteria
Group photo
Evaluation forms and feedback
Further training requirements