The under-realized potential usefulness of the UK Whole of Government Accounts

Bradley, L. , Heald, D. and Hodges, R. (2023) The under-realized potential usefulness of the UK Whole of Government Accounts. Public Money and Management, (doi: 10.1080/09540962.2023.2272055) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

The article combines economization’s four roles of accounting (territorialization, mediation, adjudication and subjectivization) with the four modes of government accounting (government financial reporting, statistical accounting, budgeting and fiscal sustainability projections) to assess the contribution of the UK’s Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) to fiscal transparency and fiscal sustainability. It analyses published WGAs (2009–10 to 2020–21), assessing the incremental information on government assets and liabilities. WGA net liabilities are significantly higher than reported by statistical accounting’s public sector net debt.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Heald, Professor David and Bradley, Ms Lynn
• Authors: Bradley, L., Heald, D., and Hodges, R.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School; College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance
• Journal Name: Public Money and Management
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0954-0962
• ISSN (Online): 1467-9302
• Published Online: 17 December 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Public Money and Management 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence