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Keeping secrets? Or what government performance auditors might not need to know

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  • Funnell, Warwick

Abstract

This paper examines the claims made in a recent paper in Critical Perspectives on Accounting by Vaughan Radcliffe about the way in which public sector auditors report their findings. Drawing upon the work of Taussig, he argues that while public sector auditors may know the truth, as may others, they choose not always to tell the truth in their reports and instead to treat what may be publicly unpalatable as a public secret. They modify their findings to ensure that these will be more acceptable to governments and, thereby, enhance their opportunity to influence government. These claims are shown in this paper to overstate the public sector auditor's response to difficult issues. Rather than keeping secrets, the contents of the auditor's reports may instead reflect the constitutional and institutional limitations in which they must work. Most importantly in most jurisdictions they are not to comment on matters of policy which are the domain of the government.

Suggested Citation

  • Funnell, Warwick, 2011. "Keeping secrets? Or what government performance auditors might not need to know," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 714-721.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:22:y:2011:i:7:p:714-721
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2010.02.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Radcliffe, Vaughan S., 1998. "Efficiency audit: An assembly of rationalities and programmes," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 377-410, May.
    2. Cooper, David J. & Sherer, Michael J., 1984. "The value of corporate accounting reports: Arguments for a political economy of accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 9(3-4), pages 207-232, October.
    3. Radcliffe, Vaughan S., 1999. "Knowing efficiency: the enactment of efficiency in efficiency auditing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 333-362, May.
    4. Rose, Nikolas, 1991. "Governing by numbers: Figuring out democracy," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 673-692.
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    Cited by:

    1. Laurence Ferry & Peter Eckersley, 2015. "Budgeting and governing for deficit reduction in the UK public sector: act three 'accountability and audit arrangements'," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 203-210, May.
    2. Eckersley, Peter & Ferry, Laurence & Zakaria, Zamzulaila, 2014. "A ‘panoptical’ or ‘synoptical’ approach to monitoring performance? Local public services in England and the widening accountability gap," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 529-538.
    3. Bonchukova, D. & Starobinskaya, N., 2013. "Strategic marketing and competitiveness of high school," Annals of marketing-mba, Department of Marketing, Marketing MBA (RSconsult), vol. 2, July.

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