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The current control system for public expenditure in the UK dates
from the Plowden Report in 1961 and was developed at a time when capital
expenditures were a significantly more important component of public
spending. In Discussion Paper No. 259, Research Fellow Nick Bosanquet
presents detailed evidence on changes in the composition of public
expenditure. He proposes a new system of public expenditure control that
is better suited to new patterns of public expenditure, in which social
investment and transfer payments to three main client groups (the
elderly, families with children and the unemployed) have become much
more important. He argues that information on expenditure should be
broken down according to those client groups and should cover the whole
span of `public initiative', including tax expenditures and regulation
as well as public expenditure, to enable a more integrated medium-term
approach. The needs of each of the three major client groups are
examined, and policy guidelines are proposed which seek to apply the
insights provided by the new framework. Bosanquet discussed his
proposals at a lunchtime meeting earlier this year, reported in Bulletin
No. 24/25 |
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