LOCAL AUTHORITY ACCOUNTING – THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

A number of writers have bemoaned the lack of a conceptual framework for public sector accounting. This paper surveys briefly the recent accounting history of UK local authorities. It continues with an outline of a number of frameworks which are available and concludes that an inclusive framework based on the concept of worldviews, recognising the variety of views and perspectives, would be more appropriate. This is then applied to explain the current debate on capital asset accounting, suggesting that there has been a major shift in the worldviews of accounting policy makers from fiduciary stewardship towards performance evaluation. The need for further research is recognised.