Budgetary stewardship, innovation and working culture: Identifying the missing ingredient in English and Welsh local authorities’ recipes for austerity management

Laurence Ferry; Hugh  Coombs; Peter Mark Eckersley

doi:10.1111/faam.12117

Budgetary stewardship, innovation and working culture: Identifying the missing ingredient in English and Welsh local authorities’ recipes for austerity management

Laurence Ferry, Hugh Coombs, Peter Mark Eckersley

Environment and Geography

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Drawing on fieldwork with 70 local authorities in England and Wales, this article builds on previous studies of austerity management by highlighting the importance of organisational cultures to achieving strategic objectives. It finds that, in line with their prevailing “belief system” of budgetary stewardship, local authorities in both countries are holding down input costs to deal with austerity. However, the scale of funding cuts means this strategy is unlikely to be successful over the longer term. Instead, they need greater freedom to generate revenue, in order to facilitate innovation and develop more sustainable business practices and service models.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	220-243
Journal	Financial Accountability and Management
Volume	33
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12117
Publication status	Published - 3 Apr 2017

Bibliographical note

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

Keywords

local government
austerity
England and Wales
levers of control
management control systems

Access to Document

10.1111/faam.12117

Ferry_Coombs_and_Eckersley_2017_green_copy
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details
Accepted author manuscript, 562 KB

Cite this

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Budgetary stewardship, innovation and working culture: Identifying the missing ingredient in English and Welsh local authorities’ recipes for austerity management. / Ferry, Laurence; Coombs, Hugh ; Eckersley, Peter Mark.
In: Financial Accountability and Management, Vol. 33, No. 2, 03.04.2017, p. 220-243.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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