When was the last time you looked at a set of local authority accounts? I think I already know the answer.

Unless you were preparing them or signing them off, I bet it was some time ago – if at all.
Had you looked at the accounts, what would they have told you about how the authority was performing, or how taxpayers’ money was being spent?
These are, perhaps, radical questions for an accountant to be asking, should I not be just congratulating myself on the fact that they comply with proper accounting practice, and that the auditor has given them a clean bill of health?
CIPFA, while justifiably proud of the progress made in local authority accounting, feels the time is right to ask these questions.
We are launching two consultations, a First principles review of local authority accounts, and one entitled Towards improved local government reporting. The first deals with the statements of accounts, and asks whether we can make these more meaningful to stakeholders, while the second looks at whether local authority reporting is providing the information stakeholders need.
It is easy to switch off and decide that these are issues best left to accountants, but first, consider the level of resources and effort that go into producing the annual statement of accounts and other prescribed reports. How much better would it be if this effort produced information that was meaningful to stakeholders, and allowed authorities a real opportunity to communicate their strategies, performance, and effective use of taxpayers money. 
Please look out for the consultation documents when they are published, and please engage in the debate. We accountants are open to new ideas and do want to work for the good of local government.
Alison Scott is local government technical manager at CIPFA