Courses: Performance audit in social policy
Teaching Staff
Prof. Geert Bouckaert (University of Leuven, Belgium)
Objectives
The purpose of this course is to develop with the participants a clear understanding of the meaning, institutional positions and practical approaches of auditing in a contemporary public sector environment. To this end, the concept of performance in the public sector in general, and of performance in the field of social policy in particular, from a public sector point of view, is discussed.
This performance concept is translated into two ways into the policy cycle. First, performance audit in social policy is about auditing the implementation of performance based strategies and budgets in the public sector. The way performance is used in strategic plans and in performance budgets is therefore crucial. These implemented plans are audited for their performance. Auditing is defined not only as a financial and compliance oriented certification of financial accounts (which is not the focus in this course), but also as an essential element in a policy and management control cycle from a performance point of view.
Students are to ‘experience’ some of the issues involved in performing an audit, through analysing a strategic plan, a performance audit, and a performance budget in a social policy area.
Contents
This course will cover major element of auditing social policy from the public sector point of view. This will include, among other things:
- What is performance in general and the public sector in particular;
- What is the link between a policy cycle, a financial cycle and audit; How does audit fit into the financial cycle (performance budget, accounting for performance, performance audit). What is a strategic plan and a performance based budget in social policy?
- How is performance audit organised in the context of public sector modernisation
- What are the stages of an audit assignment and its requirements