Public expenditure planning and control in complex times

Researchers: Professor David Richards | Professor Diane Coyle ...

Project overview


Public Expenditure Planning and Control in Complex Times: A Study of Whitehall Departments’ Relationship to the Treasury (1993 – Present) seeks to explore a potential paradox to emerge over recent decades in the British system of government – centralised financial control in an era of fragmentation within the governing process.

It examines public expenditure coordination, control and delivery between HM Treasury, Whitehall government departments and their delivery agents from 1993 to present day, examining the challenges to achieving effective financial control of public expenditure. The project complements the Nuffield Foundation funded work on the history of the United Kingdom’s planning and control of public expenditure and planning for revisions to UK government expenditure plans.

There is widespread recognition that public services are better delivered by a more devolved approach, accommodating local services and interagency working. Recent decades have seen increasing complexity and fragmentation within the governing process. However, throughout these changes, the Treasury has maintained a highly centralised system of financial control.

This project will explore this tension, from the perspective of departments and their delivery agents, and its impact on the Treasury’s capacity to maintain effective expenditure control. It will focus on four Whitehall departments: Education, Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (and their predecessors). It will investigate how Treasury’s mechanisms of financial control have been interpreted and responded to, whether and how this has led to the emergence of ‘implementation gaps’ between policy intention and delivery, and pinpoint key junctures where expenditure controls have succeeded or failed.

The research will focus first on a historical analysis of changing relations between the Treasury, departments, and delivery agents drawing on government papers, official documents and secondary sources such as business cases and impact assessments. The second phase will trace specific lines of expenditure from sign-off to implementation, drawing on quantitative data from sources including archival material from the Treasury, National Audit Office and relevant Select Committees and qualitative data collected from 80-100 key actors over time from within the relevant departments and delivery agencies. It will also draw on Nuffield Foundation funded work on education spending pressures and challenges.

The research team will use three case studies to demonstrate the impact of the Treasury’s planning and control of public expenditure:

  • Prisons
  • Special Educational Needs
  • Homelessness

The research will provide a better understanding of the complexity of financial control in an age of fragmented governance and offer lessons for parliamentarians and policymakers for developing mechanisms better suited to complex, interagency networks of delivery.

Follow @HMTControl_NF on Twitter

Publications


Team


  • Professor David Richards
    University of Manchester
  • Professor Diane Coyle
    University of Cambridge
  • Professor Martin Smith
    University of York
  • Dr Sam Warner
    University of Manchester

  • Alex Beer headshot
    Head of Grants Operations and Portfolio Development
    Nuffield Foundation

Explore our projects

A shot of a grandfather sitting in a tractor with his young granddaughter, he is at his farm in North East, England. The grandfather and the girl's mother are teaching her about the farm.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Arthritis and farmers in England: Impacts, adaptations and prevention

View project
row of houses
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Musculoskeletal conditions in underserved communities

View project
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

Musculoskeletal conditions, employment retention and job quality

View project
Two mothers cuddle their daughter on the sofa with their dog: Welfare access, assets and debts of LGBT+ people in the UK
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

Understanding fertility intentions in 21st century Britain

View project
Mixed race teenage girl commuting to school holding her smartphone and looking out of the window.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2029

Challenges young people face in managing musculoskeletal chronic pain

View project
lady looking out of the bus window
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Economic inactivity, arthritis & depression: who, why & how to respond

View project
A front view of a two teenage girls on the minibus on the way to go on a hiking field trip. They are looking at one of the girls mobile phones and smiling.

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

A Digital Lives’ Framework for Counsellors and Psychotherapists

View project
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

All women are born (un)equal: menopause, HRT and women’s well-being

View project
Female electrician arrives at job. She is wearing an orange hi-vis jacket and behind her is a van.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Characterising the job ladder in England

View project

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Full Fact: Evidence-based responses to harmful misinformation

View project
traditional detached house within residential estate in England UK, several houses in view have solar panels on the roof.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Distributional impacts of net zero on electricity consumers

View project
Portrait of a senior woman at home checking a letter in the mail
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

How can low earners afford a commensurate retirement income?

View project
Two mothers cuddle their daughter on the sofa with their dog: Welfare access, assets and debts of LGBT+ people in the UK
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

Understanding fertility intentions in 21st century Britain

View project
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

Musculoskeletal conditions, employment retention and job quality

View project
lady looking out of the bus window
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Economic inactivity, arthritis & depression: who, why & how to respond

View project
row of houses
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Musculoskeletal conditions in underserved communities

View project
Mixed race teenage girl commuting to school holding her smartphone and looking out of the window.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2029

Challenges young people face in managing musculoskeletal chronic pain

View project
A shot of a grandfather sitting in a tractor with his young granddaughter, he is at his farm in North East, England. The grandfather and the girl's mother are teaching her about the farm.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Arthritis and farmers in England: Impacts, adaptations and prevention

View project
traditional detached house within residential estate in England UK, several houses in view have solar panels on the roof.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Distributional impacts of net zero on electricity consumers

View project
Portrait of a senior woman at home checking a letter in the mail
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

How can low earners afford a commensurate retirement income?

View project
Female electrician arrives at job. She is wearing an orange hi-vis jacket and behind her is a van.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Characterising the job ladder in England

View project
A front view of a two teenage girls on the minibus on the way to go on a hiking field trip. They are looking at one of the girls mobile phones and smiling.

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

A Digital Lives’ Framework for Counsellors and Psychotherapists

View project
Close up of a Young woman going over her retirement savings at home while using her laptop
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Tackling the information gap in retirement saving decisions

View project
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

All women are born (un)equal: menopause, HRT and women’s well-being

View project
lady looking out of the bus window
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Economic inactivity, arthritis & depression: who, why & how to respond

View project
In progress

Education | Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Clear Skies, Clear Minds: Air quality and children’s welfare

View project
In progress

Education | Justice | 2024 - 2027

Evaluating the Fundamental British Values initiative of the DfE

View project
In progress

Welfare | 2024 - 2028

Well-being in later life in Bradford 

View project
Happy woman talking to a colleague at work
In progress

Education | Welfare | 2024 - 2026

Employer investment in upskilling and reskilling in a changing economy

View project
Commuters waiting to get on the tube. There are two men and two women. One woman is looking at her phone, looking concerned.
In progress

Welfare | 2024 - 2025

Routes to safety: Enhancing referrals to make victims of domestic abuse safer, sooner 

View project
A front view of a father and his two children. He is carrying his young son in his arms and his daughter is riding her scooter along the footpath as he pushes his son's scooter along the way.
In progress

Justice | Welfare | 2024 - 2026

Challenging justice inequalities with children in conflict with the law 

View project
three women walking along street laughing and smiling
In progress

Welfare | 2023 - 2025

Revealing social capital

View project
A woman is sat on the edge of a bed staring at her phone while her daughter is in the background.
In progress

Welfare | 2023 - 2025

Virtual parent support portals: a new research and practice agenda

View project
Two little boys and a little girl, all wearing primary school uniform, work together to solve a puzzle in their classroom.
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2025

What has ‘Free School Meals’ measured and what are the implications?

View project
Teenager hugging their mother
In progress

Welfare | 2023 - 2026

The long-term effects of being a young carer

View project
Elderly woman and adult daughter out shopping
In progress

Welfare | 2023 - 2026

Connecting pensions, health and care

View project
Two mothers cuddle their daughter on the sofa with their dog: Welfare access, assets and debts of LGBT+ people in the UK
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

Understanding fertility intentions in 21st century Britain

View project
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

Musculoskeletal conditions, employment retention and job quality

View project
row of houses
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Musculoskeletal conditions in underserved communities

View project
A shot of a grandfather sitting in a tractor with his young granddaughter, he is at his farm in North East, England. The grandfather and the girl's mother are teaching her about the farm.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2028

Arthritis and farmers in England: Impacts, adaptations and prevention

View project
traditional detached house within residential estate in England UK, several houses in view have solar panels on the roof.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Distributional impacts of net zero on electricity consumers

View project
Portrait of a senior woman at home checking a letter in the mail
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

How can low earners afford a commensurate retirement income?

View project
Female electrician arrives at job. She is wearing an orange hi-vis jacket and behind her is a van.
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Characterising the job ladder in England

View project
Close up of a Young woman going over her retirement savings at home while using her laptop
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Tackling the information gap in retirement saving decisions

View project
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2027

All women are born (un)equal: menopause, HRT and women’s well-being

View project
baby eating fruit on highchair
New

Welfare | 2025 - 2026

Impact of the cost of childcare on parental mobility

View project
New

Education | Welfare | 2025 - 2028

The evaluation of Thrive at Five’s sites in Stoke and Redcar

View project
Dad and children are walking up to the front door of a house.
New

Welfare | 2024 - 2027

Family change, wellbeing and social policy

View project
Reported

Education | Welfare | 2022 - 2024

Understanding school attendance, education and labour market outcomes

View project
Grandparents having fun outdoors with their granddaughter, who is eating an apple and laughing: Understanding family and community vulnerabilities in transition to net zero
Reported

Welfare | 2021 - 2023

Understanding family and community vulnerabilities in transition to net zero

View project
Father and son using laptop at home
Reported

Welfare | 2021 - 2025

Developing a minimum digital living standard for households with children

View project
Code encounters algorithmic risk-profiling in housing: a family in their kitchen at home
Reported

Welfare | 2022 - 2024

Code encounters: algorithmic risk-profiling in housing

View project
The future of work and wellbeing. A man working from home during the COVID-19 crisis, having a video meeting with colleagues
Reported

Welfare | 2021 - 2024

The Future of Work and Well-being: The Pissarides Review

View project
Close up of a young girl and her father wearing protective face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic outside.
Reported

Welfare | 2021 - 2023

The Economy 2030 Inquiry: navigating a decade of change

View project
Toddler-gleefully-eats-baked-beans-How-COVID-19-is-affecting-food-security-proj
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2021

How the COVID-19 crisis is affecting food security

View project
Senior-woman-enjoys-video-call-on-smartphone-Social-cohesion-in-context-of-COVID-19-PROJ
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2022

Social cohesion in the context of COVID-19

View project
Teenage-girl-looks-at-smartphone-next-to-laptop-Growing-up-under-COVID-19-PROJ
Reported

Education | Welfare | 2020 - 2022

Growing up under COVID-19

View project
Mother carrying daughter outside their home
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2022

COVID realities: families on low incomes during the pandemic

View project
Woman-looks-at-smartphone-screen-How-the-UK-public-gets-information-about-COVID-19-PROJ
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2020

How the UK public gets information about COVID-19

View project
Woman-medical-professional-treats-patient-impact-MSK-conditions-outcomes-other-illnesses-PROJ
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2022

The impact of musculoskeletal conditions on outcomes of other illnesses

View project
Search projects

Profile