Accountability and transparency in English local government: Moving from ‘matching parts’ to ‘awkward couple’?

Ferry, L.; Eckersley, P.; Zakaria, Z.

Abstract

Although excessive transparency and accountability demands can have a counterproductive effect on organisational performance (Bovens, 2005), longstanding hierarchical accountability structures to ensure financial conformance in English local government continue to endure. Interestingly however, the previously top-down regime for performance accountability in English local government has been replaced by bottom-up mechanisms such as greater transparency and a more open market for public services. Using the framework developed by Hood (2010), this paper will show how such reforms mean that transparency and accountability are moving from being ‘matching parts’ to an ‘awkward couple’, and how this has significant implications for public services.

Citation

Ferry, L., Eckersley, P., & Zakaria, Z. (2015). Accountability and transparency in English local government: Moving from ‘matching parts’ to ‘awkward couple’?. Financial Accountability and Management, 31(3), 345-361. https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12060

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 3, 2015
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Oct 23, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2015
• Journal: Financial Accountability and Management
• Print ISSN: 0267-4424
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-0408
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 345-361
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12060
• Keywords: Accountability, Transparency, English local government, Budgeting, Performance measurement.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1419456