CIPFA 1 May 2019
- In this report, PHE and CIPFA argue that a culture change in the way local organisations evaluate long-term investment in prevention is key to making the most of the proposed shift to Integrated Care Systems by 2021. The overall ambition is to change the way that prevention is considered – it should be viewed and treated as an investment, and properly reported as such. Moving forward, PHE and CIPFA are interested in supporting and challenging finance professionals to pick up these ideas and integrate them into everyday practice.
- The report identifies existing tools and resources which could be utilised across different types of intervention, across different organisations and at local, regional or national levels to evaluate preventative investment.
- The report concludes that:
- 1. Use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) methodology can provide a balanced evaluation of the financial and conomic costs and benefits of preventative investment.
- 2. The Green Book/New Economy model is well-suited to judging the comparative merits of such investments and allows a whole-system view to facilitate decisions on a place-based basis.
- 3. Using International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) guidance and the principles of the Prudential Code2 would allow for consideration of the impact of such investment, particularly on long-term financial sustainability, and would enable comparative assessment of investment across time and place.
