Advising financialization?

Abstract

Abstract A widening array of external advisors increased their involvement in local statecraft in England since 2010. With denuded capacity due to staff reductions in austerity, local statecrafters were compelled to seek support to navigate their changing financial situations, coping with fiscal stress and formulating innovations. Such intermediaries are interpreted as potential carriers, enablers, or even drivers of the financialization of the local state. Providing long-standing sources of specialist advice for local government in England, the range and roles of accountants and consultants, financial consultants, treasury management advisors (TMAs), property consultants, and professional and sectoral advisors, associations, and consultants have increased and evolved since 2010. Their strategies, business models, and services cultivated and shaped the growing local public sector market. Local governments in England need the legal cover of commissioned expert advice to underpin their due diligence, risk management, and accountable decision-making. UK government and national professional regulation and guidance require and encourage such engagement. External advisors enabling and supporting local statecrafter involvements with commercial finance actors are differentiated by differences in local government type and size, risk appetites, attitude and openness to external advice, strategies, locations, local economic conditions, and tax bases.