Local government finance essentials

Overview

The overall objective of this training is to demystify local council finance. The training will consider how the council receives its funding, how the council plans, manages and reports its spending and consider how councillors can effectively engage with their council’s financial decision-making processes. Plenty of time will be provided for participants to ask questions, with all answers provided in plain English!

Key outcomes

• Understand how local government finance works and how it impacts on wider council decision-making.
• Understand the various sources of funding available to the council and the constraints, pitfalls and controls on each.
• Understand how the council plans, manages and reports its finances.
• Confront and overcome the barriers of jargon that make finance difficult.

Who should attend

These online sessions are aimed at both new and experienced local authority members, who want to understand the basics of local government finance and financial management – and develop a grasp of the financial implications of recent changes. The series will also be relevant to local authority officers who would like to understand local government finance as part of their role or who are involved in the budget process, as well as local government partners.

Your LGIU Trainer

Ian Fifield, Ian is a CIPFA qualified accountant with over 20 years of experience in designing and delivering financial management training for local authorities and other public service organisations. Ian’s training experience includes seminars for finance professionals, service managers and elected members. He has co-authored multiple Centre for Public Scrutiny publications on finance, budgeting, and scrutiny, for local governments.

What others are saying about LGIU training

"The trainer gave the information in a very concise and understandable form so that I received an excellent overview and was made aware of the key features to look for in the accounts. I definitely feel more confident and interested in looking at my council's accounts in future!" - Roger, from Wyre

Host or Publisher Local Government Information Unit