The UK Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants (CIMA) said that public sector managers and policy
makers are suffering from ‘inadequate’ management information, and
are not making best use of their finance function.
CIMA also called for private sector decision
and policy makers to, “demand the same level of information and
support enjoyed by peers in the private sector”.
A CIMA report Public sector performance: a
global perspective said that central government, “has too
narrow a view of the role of the finance function, confining it to
stewardship and reporting, and advocates the adoption of the best
available accounting and financial management practices”.
CIMA head of corporate performance management
Louise Ross said that although demand for public sector services is
increasing, current financial constraints mean many public bodies
must achieve success with fewer resources.
“Effective performance management is crucial
to achieve sustainable and stable public finances, and to gain
public confidence that tax revenues are being used effectively,”
she said.
Report contributor International Federation of
Accountants (IFAC) chief executive Ian Ball said there has been a,
“systematic, pervasive, though possibly not deliberate, ignorance
of the critical value and importance of good accounting” in the
public sector.
