Engaging patients to improve the healthcare experience

Spectrum Health suggests five considerations for engaging patients and their family members in process improvement initiatives effectively to create a better patient experience: Recruit patients who will provide the type of feedback required to warrant inclusion on a patient advisory council. Create a strong infrastructure for the councils. Ensure the councils always enjoy fresh input from new patient participants. Set clearly defined goals and implementation plans for the councils. Measure the impact.     

Bribery and corruption in Australian local councils

This paper explores public concerns about corruption and bribery in Australian local government and provides guidance for policy-makers on how to control bribery and corruption. Lack of regulation is a major reason why local councils are not taking appropriate anti-corruption or bribery measures. The author urges regulators to impose radical and mandatory requirements, especially reporting requirements, on local councils. Australia should also look to other countries for successful measures to curb bribery and corruption.     

Explanators of Local Government Distress

This article develops a statistical model to explain sources of distress in local government. Whereas ‘financial distress’ in the private sector has been equated with a failure to meet financial commitments, here ‘distress’ is interpreted as an inability to maintain pre-existing levels of services to the community. Since the late 1990s local councils in an Australian state (New South Wales) have been required to estimate the cost of restoring infrastructure assets to a satisfactory condition (a requirement which predates that form of reporting on infrastructure condition introduced as an option in U.S. GASB 34). Information regarding the cost of restoring infrastructure is used in this study as a proxy for levels of distress (in contrast to the binary classification that characterizes much of prior private sector financial distress research). Data regarding service levels for a sample of 161 councils for 2001 and 2002 were used and a multiple regression model was estimated and interpreted. The main findings were that the degree of distress in local councils is positively associated with the size of the population they serve and the size and composition of their revenues. Road maintenance costs featured prominently in results, as higher road program costs were associated with higher levels of distress (particularly when interacted with other variables). However, the revenue generating capacity of councils had the strongest statistical impact on local government distress. Councils with lower percentages of rates revenue to total revenue and lower ordinary revenue levels to total assets were typically identified as more distressed. However, no systematic evidence was found that rural councils have higher distress levels than urban councils (i.e., both rural and urban councils serving larger populations were relatively more distressed than councils serving smaller populations). It is suggested that the model (or modifications thereof) may serve as an early warning system for those monitoring the circumstances and performance of local governments.     

Strengthening Post‐Crisis Fiscal Credibility: Fiscal Councils on the Rise – A New Dataset

Institutions that aim to constrain policy discretion in order to promote sound fiscal policies are once again at the forefront of the policy debate. Interest in fiscal councils – independent watchdogs active in the public debate – has grown rapidly in recent years. In this paper, we present the first cross‐country dataset summarising key characteristics of fiscal councils among International Monetary Fund members. The data document a surge in the number of fiscal councils since the 2008–09 economic and financial crisis, and also illustrate that well‐designed fiscal councils are associated with stronger fiscal performance and better macro‐economic and budgetary forecasts. Key features of effective fiscal councils include operational independence from politics, the provision or public assessment of budgetary forecasts, a strong presence in the public debate and the monitoring of compliance with fiscal policy rules.     

Accounting Problems in Infrastructure Asset Valuation and Depreciation in New South Wales Local Government

The aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate whether New South Wales (NSW) local government councils comply with Australian Accounting Standards in accounting for revaluation of their infrastructure assets and (ii) to assess any consequences for the reliability of financial reporting in NSW local government. Using road assets as an example, we analyse the results of revaluations of road assets undertaken by 89 NSW councils as reported in their financial statements during the period 2013 to 2016. In this analysis we focus on the effect of a change in accumulated depreciation and impairment loss component of fair value as a percentage of the gross replacement cost of the revalued assets. The analysis reveals that in most cases this effect is significant. However, the accounting and reporting of this effect is strikingly inconsistent between the councils. Based on a critical analysis of the accounting framework and disclosure of the revaluation effects, we conclude that the main reason for the change in the fair value of assets is altered estimates of remaining useful life. Furthermore, we argue that councils did not comply with the requirements of AASB 116 in determining the useful life of the assets.     

From rules to collaborative practice: When regulatory mechanisms drive collective co-production

The paper develops an analysis of latent spaces of co-production enacted by the government. Based on a survey and interviews, the authors identified the elements of co-production logics which emerged from the interactions of members of Brazilian municipal health councils. Collective co-production emerges when members adhere to a set of norms and values which are favourable to co-operation. The paper explains how councils’ regulatory mechanisms can drive the understanding of their members in relation to co-production and its benefits.     

Sustainability Reporting by New Zealand's Local Governments

This study examines New Zealand (NZ) local government's sustainability disclosure during the five years prior to changes in the legislative environment through the introduction of the Environmental Reporting Bill. Local councils appeared to persistently increase their social and environmental disclosure practices in view of the forthcoming Bill. This is consistent with the underpinnings of legitimacy theory in that pending legislation may introduce restrictive policies and rules in the future that are not consistent with current reporting practices. The highest reporting categories were public agency and the environment, which indicates councils’ drive to maintain legitimacy. Further, the results show that local government environmental reporting focused on non‐monetary, and to a lesser extent monetary, information. In the absence of mandatory guidelines, the results also indicate that NZ local councils have voluntarily reported sustainability information consistent with GRI indicators.     

Emerging realities of local government reorganization

This article reviews ministerial claims about the financial benefits of the nine new unitary councils in England and finds them wanting. The new councils' own estimates for costs and savings use a variety of assumptions, some of which are plainly wrong. The resulting figures are not comparable between authorities and are difficult to reconcile with ministerial claims. The Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) evidently does not apply rigorous evaluation standards and has a track record of refusing to divulge the evidence upon which decisions are taken and performance claims are made.     

Best Value Audits in Scotland: Winning Without Scoring?

Best Value audits have encouraged improvements in the corporate capacity of Scottish local authorities. They are seen by local government as credible and, in contrast to Comprehensive Performance Assessments in England, are applauded for taking account of local priorities and contexts. However, there are some concerns about the consistency and transparency of the process, and reports have failed to attract public interest. In future, the Best Value audit process will need to pay more attention to the importance of partnership working between councils and other local agencies.     

Calculating education spending need, 1976–82

The Welsh Office has proposed that local government in Wales be restructured to produce a system of 20 unitary authorities based on the boundaries of the existing 37 district councils. All eight of the Welsh county councils will be abolished. The consultation paper on reform in Wales claims that a single tier of local government has four main advantages: greater public accountability; the removal of friction between counties and districts; better service co‐ordination; and enhanced efficiency. The consultation paper contains neither reasoned arguments nor empirical evidence to substantiate these claims. A better approach to local government reform would enable diverse local circumstances and preferences to be reflected in diverse local structures.     

Accounting and management in the social dialogue: the experience of fifty years of works councils in France

This paper analyses the conditions of the birth of works councils in France in 1945 and how the practice of their economic competence has evolved. It studies the ways in which the relationships have developed between the principal parties: trade unions, business management and chartered accountants. It aims to show how the use of accounting and management information has contributed to the legitimization of the works council as an institution.     

Reorganizing Two-Tier Local Government for Regional Assemblies

The Government has decided that referenda will be held in three northern regions of England regarding the establishment of elected regional assemblies. If these are established, the areas with two-tier local government would be converted to unitary structures. The Government asserts that this would be necessary because the retention of the two tiers would be the retention of one tier too many, but offers no evidence to back up this assertion. This assertion has been tested by an analysis of the Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) ratings for the single tier and county councils, which shows that the counties have achieved better assessments than the other principal authorities. In addition, the Boundary Committee has been advised by the Government to use a costing model which is seriously inadequate: transition costs are ignored and the basis for assessing on-going costs is extremely narrow. Transition costs would be at least £110 per resident in the two-tier areas if there were to be three unitary councils for each county area, and there is no reasonable prospect that there would in fact be on-going savings except with unitary counties.     

Do Local Property Taxes Affect New Building Development? Results from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in New Zealand

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - We utilise a quasi-natural experiment in local property tax reform arising from a compulsory amalgamation of several local councils in 2010 in...     

Land Under Roads - A Financial Bonanza OR Fool's Gold?

This paper critically reviews and rejects the requirement that councils value the land under their roads and include it in their financial statements. Land under roads is a public good which does not satisfy the requirements for recognition as an asset. Moreover, it does not need to be valued financially for purposes of road management. Councils are cowect in opposing the requirement of AAS 27. The inclusion of land under roads as a council asset distorts the representation of their financial position.     

All in the Mind: Citizen Satisfaction and Financial Performance in the Victorian Local Government System

While a significant body of literature exists on local government efficiency, much less is known about its effectiveness, especially financial performance and resident satisfaction. To address this gap in the empirical literature, the present paper uses system‐wide official annual data on resident satisfaction in the Victorian state local government system in Australia to investigate the relationship between annual net operating results and overall citizen satisfaction. In addition, in order to garner a deeper understanding of this relationship, we evaluated the assumption in the ‘near‐to‐zero balance’ public accounting literature that local residents prefer an insignificant annual balance in operating performance compared to substantial annual losses or surpluses. We found that there is a significant negative association between overall satisfaction and its components and financial performance for Victorian local government as a whole. However, this association is largely restricted to rural councils with surpluses. By contrast, we find no relationship between satisfaction and near‐to‐zero balances. We conclude by considering the implications of our findings for both the public accounting literature and local government policymaking.     

Inconsistent Depreciation Practice and Public Policymaking: Local Government Reform in New South Wales

Public policy based on numerical indicators – a form of ‘public management by numbers’ – has become commonplace across the world. Whereas a good deal is known about the deleterious effects of this type of policymaking – including ratcheting, output distortion and ‘gaming’ – unfortunately little attention has focused on the adverse local government policy consequences of inconsistent depreciation accruals by local authorities. This paper seeks to address this gap in the empirical literature on local government performance. After examining the use of accounting data by local government policymakers, the paper reviews available empirical evidence of inconsistent depreciation practice both in Australia and abroad. We then consider the recent New South Wales (NSW) Independent Local Government Review Panel's use of accounting ratios as supporting evidence for boundary change in local government as a case study of the adverse impact of inconsistent depreciation practice. The NSW experience clearly demonstrates the distortionary effects of empirical evidence resulting from significant variation in depreciation accruals by individual local councils. The paper concludes with an assessment of the options available to local government policymakers wishing to obtain more accurate accounting accrual data for policy formulation purposes.     

AN EPISTEMIC COMMUNITY AS INFLUENCER AND IMPLEMENTER IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING IN AUSTRALIA

This paper explicates the dual role of epistemic communities as influencers of accounting policy within regulatory space and as implementers who effect change within the domain of accounting. Set within the context of New South Wales in Australia, and the challenge of the financial sustainability of its local councils, the study was informed by documentary sources, and used data from interviews and a survey. Accounting and finance professionals, as an epistemic community, played a pivotal role in formulating accounting policy and in embedding fair value measurement of infrastructure assets.     

Overcoming trade union resistance to local change

As Labour councils throughout the country are discovering, it is not just the Tories who are obsessed by the need for efficiency in the provision of services. And it is not just Margaret Thatcher who has to take on the unions in order to achieve it.     

Determinants of audit report modifications in Finnish municipalities

Although municipalities are major economic and social actors in most countries, remarkably little is known about their audits, particularly the determinants of their audit report modifications. The existing evidence is ambiguous at best and scarce, which provides opportunities for further accounting studies in this area. Therefore, based on an agency theory framework, we fill this important research gap by exploring three determinants of audit report modifications in municipalities: (1) economic performance, (2) decentralization of decision-making across different decision-making bodies, and (3) political competition between political parties in local councils. These determinants are examined based on a large panel of data on Finnish municipalities for the period from 2009 to 2013, covering virtually all of the country’s municipalities. We find that a striking 33 percent of audit reports had modifications during this period, which raises serious concerns about the state of municipal management, accounting, and auditing in Finland. Regarding the above determinants, the following conclusions can be made based on our analyses. First, we find partial evidence that weak economic performance increases the likelihood of audit report modifications. Second, the lower the competition among political parties in a local council, the lower the likelihood of audit report modifications. Finally, the more decentralized decision making is across the different decision-making bodies under the local council, the higher the probability of audit report modifications. These results are consistent with agency theory’s explanations regarding the value of auditing.     

New development: Local government ethics in England: how is local ownership working?

With the abolition of the Audit Commission and the Standards Board for England, and the emphasis in the Localism Act 2011 on local ownership in England for standards, research was undertaken into a group of councils to assess their legislative compliance arrangements and the development of organizational ethical cultures. The research argues that the delivery of the former is a work-in-progress and that there is little evidence of the latter.