Relationships between central and local authorities with respect to budgetary control of educational expenditures in decentralised administrative situations

Langues
Anglais
Collections
IIEP Seminar Paper, 40
Année
1977
Pages
47 p.

Version en ligne

A propos de la publication

This paper is concerned with the budgetary control of educational expenditure with respect to the relationships between central and local authorities. In this context it raises some background issues such as why decentralise at all, and what are the most common consequences of decentralisation. Various mechanisms may be used to achieve a certain degree of decentralisation. The block grant approach, local sources of income and buffer bodies give decentralised authority more freedom to allocate resources, whereas specific grants, pooling and the key-sector approach lead to "weak" decentralisation. The author further discusses the problem of budgetary control implications by considering a model of a budgetary control system which involves both local and central levels. He concentrates on the detailed control of educational expenditures by utilising checks or safeguards such as audit controls, control of expenditures during a financial year and other procedures. Finally, the author points to some "danger signals" which would alert governments to the risk of loss of control of decentralisation, he also raises some questions for discussion.