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Dr Henry Midgley's Outputs (27)

“Written evidence submitted by Associate Professor Henry C Midgley, Durham University, Professor Laurence Ferry, Durham University, & Honorary Professor Aileen Murphie, Durham University to the Housing, Communities and Local Committee’s inquiry into “The Funding and Sustainability of Local Government Finance” (Reference FSF 018) (2025)
Report
Midgley, H. C., Ferry, L., & Murphie, A. (2025). “Written evidence submitted by Associate Professor Henry C Midgley, Durham University, Professor Laurence Ferry, Durham University, & Honorary Professor Aileen Murphie, Durham University to the Housing, Communities and Local Committee’s inquiry into “The Funding and Sustainability of Local Government Finance” (Reference FSF 018). Local Government Select Committee

Debate: Studying the regulatory space of public sector audit—the historical turn (2025)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., Murphie, A., & Midgley, H. (online). Debate: Studying the regulatory space of public sector audit—the historical turn. Public Money & Management, https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2025.2450772

The National Audit Office (NAO) is central to political life in the UK. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (C&AG) decision at the end of November 2024 to issue a disclaimed opinion upon the Whole of Government Accounts was unprecedented. The NAO r... Read More about Debate: Studying the regulatory space of public sector audit—the historical turn.

Public Accountability in an Unpredictable World: Tales of the Unexpected (2024)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., Hyndman, N., Liguori, M., & Midgley, H. (online). Public Accountability in an Unpredictable World: Tales of the Unexpected. Abacus: A Journal of Accounting, Finance and Business Studies, https://doi.org/10.1111/abac.12354

This paper aims to provide an overview of the different research themes and concepts that surround the investigation of crises and how these affect the delivery of important public services. It offers a critical reflection on what crisis means, how f... Read More about Public Accountability in an Unpredictable World: Tales of the Unexpected.

Are local government accounts trusted? Exploring the UK Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee Verdict (2024)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., Fright, M., Midgley, H., Murphie, A., & Sandford, M. (online). Are local government accounts trusted? Exploring the UK Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee Verdict. Public Money & Management, https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2024.2423370

This paper analyses the system of local government accounting and auditing in England and how successfully it is performing its role in supporting democratic accountability. To do this, the paper asks whether the accounts of local councils in England... Read More about Are local government accounts trusted? Exploring the UK Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee Verdict.

Holding Government to Account: Democracy and the National Audit Office (2024)
Book
Midgley, H. C., Ferry, L., & Murphie, A. D. (in press). Holding Government to Account: Democracy and the National Audit Office. Routledge

The National Audit Office has played an important role in the checks and balances of the UK Parliamentary and political system over the last 40 years. This new book, more than just a history of the UK’s supreme audit institution, examines the very de... Read More about Holding Government to Account: Democracy and the National Audit Office.

Democracy, accountability, accounting and trust: A critical perspective reflecting on a UK Parliamentary inquiry into the role of government accounts (2024)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., Midgley, H., & Haslam, J. (2024). Democracy, accountability, accounting and trust: A critical perspective reflecting on a UK Parliamentary inquiry into the role of government accounts. Critical Perspectives On Accounting, 99, Article 102738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2024.102738

Democracy is a contestable concept. Variants have been mobilised/appraised in critical discourse. Concurrently, in efforts to operationalise democracy, accountability is demanded, and thus accounting, relying on a notion of trust. Advocating more stu... Read More about Democracy, accountability, accounting and trust: A critical perspective reflecting on a UK Parliamentary inquiry into the role of government accounts.

Are public sector accounts trusted? Exploring the verdict of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the United Kingdom (2024)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., & Midgley, H. (online). Are public sector accounts trusted? Exploring the verdict of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the United Kingdom. Public Administration, https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12983

Legislatures face difficult challenges holding modern bureaucratic democracies to account due to the scale, complexity, and diverse impacts on citizens' lives. One way that democracies bridge the gap between the legislature and executive is through f... Read More about Are public sector accounts trusted? Exploring the verdict of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the United Kingdom.

Ministerial Directions (2023)
Report
Ferry, L., Murphie, A., & Midgley, H. (2023). Ministerial Directions. [No known commissioning body]

Timeliness of local auditor reporting on local government in England (2023)
Report
Ferry, L., & Midgley, H. (2023). Timeliness of local auditor reporting on local government in England. [No known commissioning body]

We welcome this Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry and the National Audit Office (NAO) report, that it is based upon. Whilst for obvious reasons associated with COVID-19, financial accounts and annual reports of local authorities have been laid... Read More about Timeliness of local auditor reporting on local government in England.

Institutional Entrepreneurship in a Supreme Audit Institution: The National Audit Office and the use of data in financial audit (2023)
Book Chapter
Ferry, L., & Midgley, H. (2023). Institutional Entrepreneurship in a Supreme Audit Institution: The National Audit Office and the use of data in financial audit. In T. Rana, & L. Parker (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Public Sector Accounting. Routledge

This chapter covers the development of digital technology in audit at the United Kingdom’s Supreme Audit Institution, the National Audit Office. It argues that this represented a case of institutional entrepreneurship in which often quite junior memb... Read More about Institutional Entrepreneurship in a Supreme Audit Institution: The National Audit Office and the use of data in financial audit.

Accountability, emergency and liberty during COVID-19 in the UK 2020-22 (2023)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., Midgley, H., & Green, S. (2024). Accountability, emergency and liberty during COVID-19 in the UK 2020-22. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 37(1), 176-198. https://doi.org/10.1108/aaaj-07-2022-5931

Purpose The study explains why Parliamentarians in the United Kingdom (UK) focused on accountability through data during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on how data could be used to improve the government’s response to the pandemic. Design/methodol... Read More about Accountability, emergency and liberty during COVID-19 in the UK 2020-22.

Regulatory space in local government audit: An international comparative study of 20 countries (2022)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., Midgley, H., & Ruggiero, P. (2022). Regulatory space in local government audit: An international comparative study of 20 countries. Public Money & Management, 43(3), 233-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2022.2129559

This article compares audit regulatory space in local government for 20 countries. Building upon prior research, it shows four themes of new audit space, namely ‘organization and fragmentation’, ‘independence and competition’, ‘audit scope’, and ‘ins... Read More about Regulatory space in local government audit: An international comparative study of 20 countries.

The why, who and what of public sector auditing (2022)
Book Chapter
Ferry, L., Ruggiero, P., & Midgley, H. (2022). The why, who and what of public sector auditing. In L. Ferry, & P. Ruggiero (Eds.), Auditing Practices in Local Governments: An International Comparison (1-12). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-085-720221001

Public sector audit has grown in importance since the 1980s across the world. In this chapter, we outline the state of the current debate about public sector audit- including the role of the auditor, the purpose of audit, developments in the content... Read More about The why, who and what of public sector auditing.

Where is Public Sector Auditing: A Comparative Analysis (2022)
Book Chapter
Ferry, L., Ruggiero, P., & Midgley, H. (2022). Where is Public Sector Auditing: A Comparative Analysis. In L. Ferry, & P. Ruggiero (Eds.), Auditing Practices in Local Governments: An International Comparison (149-159). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-085-720221016

This chapter summarises the analysis of the preceding chapters. Whilst different countries use different models for their audit, some continuities do emerge. The audit explosion has led to the advance of both financial and performance audit. Inspecti... Read More about Where is Public Sector Auditing: A Comparative Analysis.

Local Government Auditing in England (2022)
Book Chapter
Ferry, L., Midgley, H., & Murphie, A. (2022). Local Government Auditing in England. In L. Ferry, & P. Ruggiero (Eds.), Auditing Practices in Local Governments: An International Comparison (57-64). Emerald

English local government audit has gone through fundamental change in the last decade and this period of instability looks certain to continue. Since 2014, councils have been audited by private sector auditors appointed theoretically by the councils... Read More about Local Government Auditing in England.

Auditing governable space - A Study of Place-Based Accountability in England (2022)
Journal Article
Ferry, L., Midgley, H., Murphie, A., & Sandford, M. (2023). Auditing governable space - A Study of Place-Based Accountability in England. Financial Accountability and Management, 39(4), 772-789. https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12321

The governance of territories has become increasingly fragmented and complex, challenging the accountability arrangements for ‘governable spaces’. Tension between central and local governments is a perennial feature of their relationship, but few ana... Read More about Auditing governable space - A Study of Place-Based Accountability in England.