Financial sustainability of local authorities. Written evidence to Public Accounts Committee.

I welcome this opportunity to submit written evidence to the Public Accounts Committee Inquiry on the Financial Sustainability of Local Authorities. This reply draws on my personal senior level experience and recent published academic work on financial sustainability, accountability and transparency in central and local government. Overall, the main focus of my response concerns accountability, financial performance and position, and structural and strategic arrangements. The scope of the response is confined to England, and it should be noted that there are some important differences in arrangements for other parts of the UK