A collection of compelling thought leadership articles and reports from our CIPFA Thinks releases.
Protecting place and planet
The scale of climate change and consequences for inaction make net zero a target we cannot afford to miss. Public financial management can support climate action through the reporting of carbon emissions data in a standardised and globally recognised format.
Public financial management can lead on climate action: the case for carbon pricing
Public sector sustainability reporting: time to step it up’ provides answers and positive steps to addressing the most pressing challenges around public sector sustainability questions. The report draws on already existing standards and frameworks that are relevant and useful to the public sector.
Public sector sustainability reporting: time to step it up
Increasing financial resilience
Performance Tracker
The Performance Tracker assesses how public services have coped with the aftermath of the pandemic and the outlook for the remainder of this parliament.
Resilience Index
CIPFA's Financial Resilience Index is a comparative analytical tool that is intended to be used by Chief Financial Officers to support good financial management.
Developing leadership and skills
Leadership training
CIPFA offers a range of free-to-air bitesize training to develop your leadership skills
Building Personal Resilience: how to develop your personal resilience and maintain high levels of energy and engagement in your work life.
Managing an Intergenerational Team: This module aims to provide managers in charge of staff of different ages, skills and techniques on how to get their teams to work effectively and productively .
Digital Business Models: What are digital business models? This module explores some of the models currently in use and the building blocks defined by Osterwalder and Pigneur.
Leading Through Change – VUCA – Tips and Techniques: practical tips for leading and managing people in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment.
Using Assertiveness in Negotiation: how to negotiate in an open, honest and empathetic way and to seek a win/win situation for both parties, where possible.
Data Presentation: Visual representations of data vastly decrease the amount of time it takes to communicate a message. However, not all data visualisations are equal. In some cases, a combination of tricks are used to either emphasise a point or, in some cases, mislead the viewer. In this module we look at visual deception in data visualisation and how to avoid it.
Managing a hybrid working team: The COVID pandemic has changed certain working practices for good - most notably the time now spent in the office. In many cases managers are now having to supervise staff members who are choosing a blend of home and office work. This module focuses on what managers can do to ensure best practice.
The value of "constructive conflict": Conflict is not always a bad thing, and handled well, can have a positive impact on business performance. This module is about helping managers invite the positive aspects of conflict, to harness it in creating a rich and varied working environment and enhancing business opportunities.
Coaching skills for managers: A consensus exists that modern managers must be equipped with coaching skills. But how do we define coaching and what is its practical application for you the manager? This module aims to explain how coaching is going to be useful to you, but also gives you a few quick easy techniques to get you started.
Financial scrutiny
Providing guidance on how to integrate an awareness of financial scrutiny for England councils and councillors.
Financial scrutiny practice guide
Improving Financial Reporting
The purpose of local authority accounts is to provide information about a local authority’s financial performance, position and cash flows which is useful to their users for assessing stewardship and for making economic decisions.
Implementation of the financial management code
Civica sponsored insight into the implementation and strengthening of financial management, via CIPFA's Financial Management Code.
Implementation of the financial management code
Public sector Reform
Integrating care
This report provides an overview of changes as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022, what integration is trying to achieve, the wider landscape in the current climate and where we are now, as well as addressing some of the remaining challenges at place level.
Integrating care: policy, principles and practice for places
Investing in regional equality
This research investigates ten international case studies to better understand how to invest in regional equality. The findings from this cross-cutting research can be found in our compendium of four reports: Investing in regional equality – lessons from four cities, Investing in infrastructure: enabling fairer growth, the role of public financial management and a framework for metrics.
Our aim is to unpack what ‘levelling up’ looks like from a shared international experience, while providing evidence-based guidance to inform future government policies.
Investing in regional equality – lessons from four cities
Developing trust
Internal audit
This report looks at where internal audit is currently making an impact, the areas where it can do more, what's holding it back, and its future potential. It was produced using data collected from a survey of over 800 internal auditors and management professionals across the UK and internationally.
Internal audit: untapped potential
The importance of good governance
This advisory note formalises key messages from the CIPFA Practice oversight panel on the crucial importance of good governance during the establishment and subsequent operation of council-owned companies. The note reinforces the good practice principles that local government bodies in the UK should adopt, and uses the experience of others to identify examples of good practice
The importance of good governance, effective oversight and accountability of council-owned companies