scholarly journals An analysis of daylighting performance of learning spaces in local government sector schools in Kandy

FARU Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Abisheka Wijesundara ◽  
Wajishani Gamage
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-28
Author(s):  
Anggi Saputra ◽  
Intiyas Utami ◽  
Ika Kristianti

The high level of corruption in the Indonesian government sector makes good governance difficult to achieve. Accountability and transparency is a must in the effort to realize good governance. The efforts to reduce the level of corruption in Indonesia is the awareness of civil servants to disclose the fraud in the workplace agencies. This research uses qualitative methods with the aim to describe the implementation of accountability and transparency of local government financial reporting as well as identify potential whistleblowing for misuse of funds. This research uses primary data in the form of in-depth interviews with informants and secondary data in the form of financial statements of Salatiga local government that has been audited by BPK. The resource persons in this research are civil servants domiciled in Salatiga City and work in SKPD Salatiga City in the finance department of each SKPD. The results of this research indicate that Salatiga City Government has been accountable and transparent in local government financial reporting as well as there is no potential whistleblowing for misuse of funds. The results of this research can be used as an evaluation material for government agencies to establish a good whistleblowing mechanism so that civil servants working in government agencies are more willing to disclose the fraud. Keywords: Accountability, Civil Servant, Good governance, Transparency, Whistleblowing.


Author(s):  
Agnieszka Kozera

The main aim of the article was to show the importance of the agricultural tax as a source of own income of rural communes in Poland in 2004-2015. In order to determine the fiscal importance of the tax, the amount and share of income from the agricultural tax in the own income of rural communes were compared to other types of communes. In addition, the amount of income lost due to the agricultural tax was analyzed. The study showed that the agricultural tax as a source of own income plays the most important role in the budgets of rural communes, although the fiscal role of the tax in these local government sector entities is getting smaller. The agricultural taxation system, which is ineffective from the point of view of communes’ financial self-sufficiency and the construction of which is to a very limited extent related to the real amount of production and income in agriculture, is reflected in the low level of own income potential of rural communes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Abagsonema Abane ◽  
Boon-Anan Phinaitrup

The benefit of performance management is to have value for money and make local authorities more responsive to the needs of the grassroots. Therefore, the study addresses the perceived challenges which have been taken-for-granted in institutionalising performance culture at the local level in the context of sub-Sharan Africa. The purpose of this research is to investigate the progress and challenges affecting the institutionalisation of performance management in local government authorities to understand how these impediments impacts on performance culture in local governance. Using two major secondary data sources from Local Government Service, the study analyzes the contents of four key performance areas and the performance rating of local government authorities in Ghana . The study finds evidence to support that performance management may be an alternative tool to enhance the performance of local authorities. However , insufficient resource allocation, the absence of performance improvement programs and involvement of employees remains a challenge.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Rachael Williams

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the role of communication in the sustainability reporting process within Australian local councils. The study focuses on three areas; understanding and awareness levels of local councils towards sustainability, sustainability reporting methods and the importance of community engagement. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative semi-structured interview approach was adopted for this investigation. In total, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers across 13 local councils. Findings – Findings indicate that sustainability reporting is very much an emerging field in local government in Australia with varying levels of understanding and awareness of sustainability amongst councils. A lack of consistency in the current communication message being produced was found along with a lack of community engagement by most councils in the reporting process. Without clarity in the communication process, sustainability reporting in the local government context will continue to falter without a clear focus. Practical implications – The paper suggests the need for the local government sector to carefully consider the role of communication in an effort to provide direction on how best to discharge their sustainability accountabilities. Originality/value – Little attention has been given to the role of communication in accounting. The findings contribute to an understanding surrounding communication process issues in an effort to advance the sustainability reporting agenda within local government.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerrit van der Waldt ◽  
David Fourie ◽  
Gerda van Dijk ◽  
Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu ◽  
Johan Jordaan

Gender representativity in political and managerial positions in local government in general and women empowerment in particular remain contentious issues. Although an extensive statutory and regulatory framework for gender equality was established and despite the fact that specific equity targets are set, it is evident that much more needs to be done to facilitate women empowerment in the local government sector. The purpose of this article is to reflect on findings of an empirical survey conducted amongst female politicians, managers, and experts in the local government sector with the aim to design the parameters of a competency framework for women empowerment. The results support the fact that a women empowerment competency framework should incorporate various dimensions and elements, notably sector-specific job requirements, registered gender-based formal programs in the tertiary education sector, as well as content of women empowerment initiatives taken by non-governmental organizations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-76
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Kalimeri

Abstract This article aims to analyse and evaluate the implementation of Greek local government reforms based on the surrounding economic and political situation. The main two reforms in question, the Kapodistrias and the Kallikrates programmes, both tried to modernise the state under the influence of Greece’s European Union membership. Though revolutionary for its era, the Kapodistrias programme soon reached its limits. The newer Kallikrates reform, adopted under pressure from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund due to the economic crisis, has sought to reduce public spending and create a leaner state. Nevertheless, largely because of its external origins, even this more recent reform has failed to improve the deteriorating Greek local government sector.


2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aodh Quinlivan

Abstract The financial crisis from 2008 has had a profound impact on Irish local government. Councils were faced with a disastrous combination of factors - declining funding from central government, difficulties in collecting commercial rates as businesses struggled, and a drastic fall in revenue from development levies. Staffing levels in the local government sector were reduced by over 20 per cent, significantly more than the losses suffered by central government ministries and departments. Yet the financial crisis also offered an opportunity for reform and a fundamental reappraisal of subnational government in Ireland. A reform strategy produced in 2012 paved the way for the Local Government Reform Act, 2014. As a result of this legislation, the number of local authorities was reduced from 114 to 31 with the complete abolition of all town councils. The number of council seats also fell from 1,627 to 949. Using Scharpf’s dimensions of democratic legitimacy, this article assesses whether the focus of the 2014 reforms was on output legitimacy (efficiency and effectiveness) as opposed to input legitimacy (citizen integration and participation).


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 628-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chamindi Malalgoda ◽  
Dilanthi Amaratunga ◽  
Richard Haigh

Purpose Although, a number of initiatives have been taken after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami to institutionalise disaster risk reduction (DRR), gaps still exist in the Sri Lankan local government sector. Even after ten years, local governments are still struggling to overcome a number of challenges in relation to making resilience in the built environment. DRR has not yet been properly integrated into the local government system and, as a result, poses a significant challenge. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to discover the hindrances for local governments in creating disaster resilient built environment within cities and to propose ways of overcoming the identified limitations. Design/methodology/approach In total, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted among experts from Sri Lanka who are involved in disaster management, local governments and built environment fields of study. The interviews were conducted with the intention of gaining expert knowledge pertaining to this field of study. The interviews were mainly designed to capture the current practices for instigating DRR initiatives within Sri Lanka, the role of local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment and the associated challenges, and ways of overcoming such challenges to ensure an effective contribution to city resilience. Findings Primary data discovered 36 challenges along with some associated sub-challenges. The challenges were categorised under eight main themes: legal framework; lack of adequate tools, techniques and guidelines; human resource constraints; funding constraints; weaknesses in the internal systems and processes; weaknesses in the external systems; community engagement; and other challenges. The paper analyses these challenges in detail and proposes a set of recommendations to overcome the challenges in order to create disaster resilient built environments within cities. Research limitations/implications The paper provides a descriptive analysis of how the Sri Lankan local government sector could overcome the underpinning challenges of contributing to disaster resilience in the built environment and no comparative studies were conducted with in other tsunami affected regions. Furthermore, the paper analyses partial findings of a broader research, which was aimed at developing a framework to empower local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment. Originality/value The paper provides an extensive analysis of the challenges faced by local governments in contributing to the resilience of their built environment and proposes how these challenges could be overcome while making a worthwhile contribution to both theory and practice. Accordingly, the paper recommends major changes in policy and practice with respect to bringing local governments into DRR.


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