Professor David Heald

Publications

Professor David Heald Except where they are web links, documents are available electronically as Adobe PDF files. See also the Public Testimony page for evidence given to official committees.

On transparency
  • Transparency about public expenditure numbers (1998) (view)
  • Fiscal transparency: concepts, measurement and UK practice (2003) (view)
  • Varieties of transparency (2006) (view)
  • Transparency as an instrumental value (2006) (view)
  • Transparency: The Key to Better Governance?, Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 135, 2006, Oxford University Press, edited by Christopher Hood and David Heald
  • Why is transparency about public expenditure so elusive? (2012) (view)
  • Strengthening fiscal transparency (2013) (view)
  • Surmounting obstacles to fiscal transparency (2015) (view)
  • Honesty in accounting (2015) (view)
  • Uses and abuses of transparency (2022) (view)

On public audit

  • A reform too far (2008) (view)
  • A muzzled watchdog (2008) ( view)
  • Balance of power left hanging (2008) ( view)
  • Reforming the governance of the NAO (2009) ( view)
  • The implications for public audit of the abolition of the Audit Commission (2011) ( view)
  • Memorandum to the Welsh Public Accounts Committee on the Public Audit (Wales) Bill (2012) ( view)
  • Auditee perceptions of external evaluations of the Use of Resources by local authorities (2013) (view)
  • Transparency-generated trust: The problematic theorization of public audit (2018) (here)
  • Memorandum to the Northern Ireland Assembly Audit Committee on the future governance of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (2021) (view)
  • Local audit crisis in England (2023) (view)
On public bodies
  • Making the governance of public bodies work: chair-chief executive relationships in practice (2015) (view)
  • Governance of public bodies in times of austerity (2018) (here)

On government accounting reform

  • Executive Agencies within the Scotland Programme (1997) (view)
  • Views on Whole of Government Accounts (1998) (view)
  • Consolidation principles and practices for the UK government sector (2000) (view)
  • The first steps to Resource-based Supply (2000) (view)
  • Accounting and Control in Executive Agencies and Executive NDPBs in Scotland (2001) (view)
  • Stair Encyclopaedia chapter on UK and Scottish public expenditure (2002) (view)
  • The global revolution in government accounting (2003) (view)
  • The implementation of Resource Accounting in UK central government (2005) (view)
  • The implications of the delayed switch to IFRS (2008) (view)
  • Whole of government accounts developments in the UK: conceptual, technical and implementation issues (2009) view)
  • The macro-fiscal role of the U.K. Whole of Government Account (2011) ( view)
  • Will 'Austerity' be a critical juncture in European public sector financial reporting? (2015) ( view)
  • Reforming Supply (2016) ( view)
  • The uses of government accounts (2016) ( view)
  • Challenges for European Public Sector Accounting (2017) (here)
  • Accounting for government guarantees: perspectives on fiscal transparency from four modes of accounting (2018) (here)
  • The UK's divorce bill from the EU (here)
  • The accounting, budgeting and fiscal impact of COVID-19 on the United Kingdom (2020) (here)
  • The unrealized potential of the UK WGA (here)
On capital charging for government assets
  • Assessing capital charging in the National Health Service (1996) (view)
  • NHS capital charging after five years (1996) (view)
  • Managerial perceptions of the incentives inherent in National Health Service capital charging (1997) (view)
  • Capital charging as a VFM tool in public services (1999) (view)
  • Capital Charging in Public Healthcare (2000)
On the private financing of public assets and infrastructure
  • Privately financed capital in public services (1997) (view)
  • Accounting and accountability for infrastructure (1997) (view)
  • Accounting for the Private Finance Initiative (1997) (view)
  • Private financing of public infrastructure (1999) (view)
  • Value for money tests and accounting treatment in PFI schemes (2003) (view)
  • The accounting treatment of PFI projects (2010) (view)
  • Accounting for Public-Private Partnerships in a converging world (2010) (view)
  • The substance of accounting for Public-Private Partnerships (2011) (view)
On public expenditure planning and fiscal transparency
  • Steering public expenditure with defective maps (1995) (view)
  • Controlling public expenditure (1997) (view)
  • Transparency about public expenditure numbers (1998) (view)
  • The new fiscal framework (1998) (view)
  • Stair Encyclopaedia chapter on UK and Scottish public expenditure (2002) (view)
  • Parliament's information needs on public expenditure (2003) (view)
  • The public finances in the 2003 Financial Statement and Budget Report (2003) (view)
  • Fiscal transparency: concepts, measurement and UK practice (2003) (view)
  • Budget 2004: a limited window on SR 2004 (2004) (view)
  • Spending Review 2004: more difficult times ahead (2004) (view)
  • Pre-Budget Report 2004: testing the fiscal rules (2005) (view)
  • Budget Report 2005: the need to reform fiscal institutions (2005) (view)
  • Budget 2006: the public expenditure dimension (2006) (view)
  • Varieties of transparency (2006) (view)
  • Transparency as an instrumental value (2006) (view)
  • Transparency: The Key to Better Governance?, Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 135, 2006, Oxford University Press, edited by David Heald and Christopher Hood
  • Comprehensive Spending Review 2007: urgent issues for Parliament (2007) (view)
  • The Pre-Budget Report 2007 and Comprehensive Spending Review: a catalogue of missed opportunities (2007) (view)
  • Comment - Perugia 2007 workshop: Fiscal policy and budgetary institutions (2007) (view)
  • The implications of the delayed switch to IFRS (2008) (view)
  • Pre-Budget Report 2008: The return of hard times (2008) (view)
  • Budget 2009: The future consideration of public expenditure (2009) (view)
  • Memorandum on Private Finance Projects and off-balance sheet debt (2009) (view)
  • Pre-Budget Report 2009: A holding statement (view) (2010)
  • Comment - Perugia 2010 workshop: Fiscal policy and fiscal rules (2011) (view)
  • Written evidence on the Private Finance Initiative (2011) (view)
  • Comment - Perugia 2011 workshop: National fiscal frameworks: the experience (2012) (view)
  • Why is transparency about public expenditure so elusive? (2012) (view)
  • Comment - Perugia 2012 workshop: Policies to promote sustainable growth (2013) (view)
  • Rethinking public expenditure from a social democratic perspective (2013) (view)
  • Strengthening fiscal transparency (2013) (view)
  • When the Party's Over: The Politics of Fiscal Squeeze in Perspective, Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 197, 2014, Oxford University Press, edited by Christopher Hood, David Heald and Rozana Himaz
  • The politics of fiscal squeeze (2014) (view)
  • Politics in and after fiscal squeeze (2014) (view)
  • Comment - Perugia 2013 workshop: Fiscal tools to control macroeconomic risks and imbalances - experiences and prescriptions (2014) (view)
  • The implications for public spending of fixed-term parliaments (2014) (view)
  • Surmounting obstacles to fiscal transparency (2015) (view)
  • Comment - Perugia 2014 workshop: Towards a (semi-)narrative analysis of fiscal policy in EU member states (2015) (view)
  • Will 'Austerity' be a critical juncture in European public sector financial reporting? (2015) ( view)
  • Accounting for government guarantees: perspectives on fiscal transparency from four modes of accounting (2018) (here)
  • The accounting, budgeting and fiscal impact of COVID-19 on the United Kingdom (2020) ( view)
On devolution and territorial public expenditure
  • Making Devolution Work (1976) (view)
  • Territorial Equity and Public Finances: Concepts and Confusion (1980) (view 1.2MB PDF). This is an extract from the 1980 paper published by the Centre for the Study of Public Policy in which David Heald coined the name Barnett Formula
  • Financing Devolution within the United Kingdom: A Study of the Lessons from Failure (1980) (view 1.2MB PDF). Extracted from the book by David Heald, this features the cover page and the contents pages
  • Financing a Scottish Parliament: Options for debate (1990) (view)
  • Territorial public expenditure in the United Kingdom (1994) (view)
  • The tartan tax: devolved variation in income tax rates (1997) (view)
  • Fiscal implications (1998) (view)
  • Fiscal opportunities (1998) (view)
  • Financial arrangements for UK devolution (1998) (view)
  • The fiscal arrangements for devolution (1999) (view
  • Formula-controlled territorial public expenditure in the United Kingdom (1999) (view)
  • Financing UK Devolution in Practice (2001), which was written for the Quebec Government's Commission sur le Déséquilibre Fiscal. The printed version, published in March 2002 as Supporting Document 3 to the Commission's Report (2002), is available in English and French.
  • David Heald presented a paper on 'Beyond Barnett? Funding devolution', at a seminar organised by the Institute of Public Policy Research in Edinburgh on 18 April 2002. A copy of the book chapter (2002) subsequently published appears here.
  • The regional dimension of public expenditure in England (2002) (view)
  • Stair Encyclopaedia chapter on UK and Scottish public expenditure (2002) (view)
  • Fiscal autonomy under devolution: introduction to symposium (2002) (view)
  • Funding the Northern Ireland Assembly: Assessing the Options (2003). The Policy Research Brief appears here, and the Report is available here.
  • Revenue-raising by UK devolved administrations in the context of an expenditure-based financing system (view)
  • British Academy/Royal Society of Edinburgh Conference on 'The Union of the Crowns', 6-7 November 2003, subsequently published as 'Scotland's fiscal relationships with England and the United Kingdom', in W.L. Miller (ed), Anglo-Scottish Relations from 1900 to Devolution and Beyond, Proceedings of the British Academy Vol. 128, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 95-112
  • Embeddedness of UK devolution finance within the public expenditure system (2005) (view)
  • Evidence to the Calman Commission on Scottish Devolution (2008)(view)
  • Evidence to the Holtham Commission on the funding of Wales (2008)(view)
  • Evidence to the House of Lords' Committee on the Barnett formula (2009) (view)
  • Evidence to the Holtham Commission on taxes and borrowing powers (2009) (view)
  • The Barnett Formula within the devolved financing system (2014) (view)
  • The future financing of the Scottish Parliament (2014) (view)
  • Alignment of Budgetary Processes of UK and Scottish Parliaments (2016) (view)
  • Cultivating illusions, while kicking fundamentals into the long grass (2016) (view)
  • The Impact of Brexit on the Scottish Budget (2017) (view)
  • The Impact of UK Common Frameworks on the Devolution Settlement (with Iain Wright) (2018) (view)
  • Sustainability of the Barnett Formula - Written evidence to the UK Public Accounts Committee (2019) (view)
  • The Politics of Scotland's Public Finances (2020) (view)
  • Reforming Taxation in the Disunited Kingdom (2020) (view)
  • COVID-19 and the Devolved Fiscal Settlement (2020) (view)
  • Reforming the Fiscal Framework (2020) (view)
  • Resource Spending Review (2022) (view)
On cross subsidy and economic regulation
  • Contrasting approaches to the problem of cross subsidy (1996) (view)
  • Public policy towards cross subsidy (1997) (view)
  • Public enterprise developments: an international perspective (1998) (view)
On the impact of research
  • Using management research to influence policymakers (2010) (view)
  • On 15 March 2011, D