Financial resilience! A comparative study of three lower tier authorities in England

Abstract

Austerity policies have affected local government for over a decade challenging their financial resilience to cope with further financial shocks. Using a financial resilience framework, this paper examines whether lower tier authorities behave in the same way as their higher tier counterparts when it comes to financial resilience to shocks. From a detailed field study of three lower tier (district) authorities in English local government, it is concluded that they do not have the capacity to ‘Bounce Forwards’. They can only ‘Bounce Back’ in the short term and even that is becoming increasingly difficult.

Guest editorial: Public sector accounting in emerging economies in the evolving post-COVID-19 era

“…In the global context, the concept of “publicness” (Steccolini, 2019) and the altering forms of public governance (Grossi and Argento, 2022) have often been associated with the rise of research projects exploring different aspects of governments' financial resilience and the role that accounting and accountability can play in the process of resilience building (Barbera et al , 2017; Steccolini, 2019; Ferry et al , 2015; Ahrens and Ferry, 2020). Unprecedented government borrowing and escalating external debt, especially after the pandemic, and continued austerity have raised concerns over the financial viability and sustainability of governments, not least in the developing world but also across many Western countries (Coyle and Ferry, 2022; Ferry et al , 2015; Ahrens and Ferry, 2020). We, therefore, echo voices that assert that governments should work on developing capacity that will enable them to forecast such adverse events and shocks and make preparations before they actually occur (Coyle and Ferry, 2022).…”

“…Unprecedented government borrowing and escalating external debt, especially after the pandemic, and continued austerity have raised concerns over the financial viability and sustainability of governments, not least in the developing world but also across many Western countries (Coyle and Ferry, 2022; Ferry et al , 2015; Ahrens and Ferry, 2020). We, therefore, echo voices that assert that governments should work on developing capacity that will enable them to forecast such adverse events and shocks and make preparations before they actually occur (Coyle and Ferry, 2022). Wider changes in the way governments function, including their accounting and budgeting, are of paramount importance for building resilience (Barbera et al , 2017).…”

Economic Fluctuation and Public Health Financing in Brazil

“…In the wake of the developments of the global financial crisis and following the description presented by Barbera et al (2017), some scholars started to investigate in depth the notion of governmental financial resilience (e.g., Steccolini, Jones and Saliterer, 2017;Barbera, Guarini and Steccolini, 2020;Barbera et al, 2021;Saliterer et al, 2021;Coyle and Ferry, 2022). In general, emphasis has been given to local governments due to their greater vulnerability to external shocks.…”