The History of UK Public Spending Control 1993-2015

The project investigates how – and how well – spending control in the United Kingdom worked over the period 1993-2015. It involves collaboration between the Blavatnik School of Government, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Institute for Government, with active support and cooperation from HM Treasury. Full project description

Book

1. Hood, C., King, M., McLean, I., Piotrowska, B. M.  (2023)"The Way the Money Goes". Oxford University Press 

Journal articles

2. Hood, C. & Piotrowska, B.M. (2021) Who Loves Ringfences? What Happened to 'Outputs' not 'Inputs' in UK Public Financial Management, and Why? Forthcoming at Public Administration

3. Hood, C. & Piotrowska, B.M. (2020) Goodhart's Law and the Gaming of UK Public Spending Numbers Public Performance & Management Review

Events

Institute for Government How can the government ensure it learns effectively from the past in making public finance decisions? 05 December 2023 

Overseas Development Institute A model, modern Treasury? Evaluating spending controls in the UK from 1992-2015 25 April 2024

Working papers

4. "Mature NPM: Metrics, 'Gaming' and What Limits It" (with Christopher Hood)

5. "Caring but Not Sharing: The Limits of Transparency in Government" (with Christopher Hood and Maia King) 

6. "Evaluating the Efficacy of Expenditure Control Over Time: A New Standard Approach?" (with Christopher Hood and Maia King)

7. "How to win friends and influence UK public expenditure a network analysis" (with Christopher Hood and Maia King)