Free online course: 5 questions to ask about your budget

If you're in a government department, a local council, a police force, NHS trust or one of many other public sector organisations (but not all) in the UK then you'll know this is budget time. The new financial year starts in April and before then budgets need to be constructed, debated and approved.

Budgets are critically important in public bodies because they demonstrate the priorities and authorise managers to spend public money.

Last year I created a free mini-course based on a presentation I gave to some councillors about the nature of public budgets and the questions they should ask about their budget before they approve it. It's a short course (under half an hour) and it's free. If you're a politician or budget manager in a public body you can access the course here. Did I say it's free? It also comes with a handy one-page summary of the questions. Sign up for it today.