5 research outputs found
The UK's exit charge from the EU: insights from modes of accounting
Whatever the final charge on the UK for leaving the EU, the money itself is relatively marginal to the former's public finances. However, this charge is politically sensitive and financially aggravating during one of the longest periods of fiscal austerity in the UK's history. The ways in which leaving is conceptualized have implications for any continuing financial obligations that must be managed within the context of fiscal austerity and political uncertainty. Yet, leaving the EU is a unique transaction: it is not analogous, for example, to a divorce settlement, the leaving of a club, the termination of a commercial contract, the leaving of a treatyâbased international organization, or secession from a state. Analysing the formulation of the charge in terms of the four modes of government accountingâfinancial reporting, statistical accounting, budgeting, and fiscal sustainability projectionsâenhances its fiscal transparency. It evidences not only the weakness and inconsistency of the UK's negotiating position but also the dominance in EU thinking of the shortâterm budgetary calculations of the 2014â20 Multiannual Financial Framework over its longâterm sustainability without a large net contributor. The final amount paid by the UK will depend on the resolution of competing perspectives as well as on liabilities and contingent liabilities associated with the increasingly complex EU financial architecture
Restructuring UK local government employment relations: pay determination and employee participation in tough times
The Conservative-led coalition government has been committed to shrinking the state and this has had a major impact on local government. This article examines the consequences of austerity measures for staff participation and pay determination in UK local government. Local government has been particularly hard hit by austerity measures and this has encouraged employers to change terms and conditions, review forms of staff participation and cut jobs. The implications for the institutional resilience of systems of employment regulation and employee involvement in the sector are considered