Accountability della Regione e sistema di bilancio. Esperienze a confronto

During the last years, Regions have been experiencing deep changes that have highlighted their need to become accountable towards their stakeholders. This need for accountability can be satisfied, first of all, by the budgeting and financial statement system. As this matter, Regions have renewed this system thanks to legislative decree 76/2000 that lets each Region significant choices regarding some relevant aspects. This article focuses its attention on the cases of Liguria and Lombardia Regions, in order to underline how different approaches relating to the budgeting and financial statement system are able to satisfy, in different ways, the need for accountability. In details, the structure of the budgeting and financial statement system of the Liguria Region can meet the need for financial and political accountability. The classification of expenditure (in the “Annual Budget” and then in the “Financial Reporting”) and the decision to draft a separate document (“Objective-Functions based Budget”) for the representation of financial resources based on regional policies allow, in fact, to know the priorities of the regional administration on the allocation of resources. This facilitates a clear assignment of responsibilities to politicians and managers and the communication towards citizens also in order to consolidate their consensus to the majority government. With regard to the Lombardia Region, instead, the hierarchy of objectives can meet the need for managerial accountability, as it makes clear the relationship between the implementation of sector regional policies (listed in the regional planning document – “Regional Development Plan”) and the achievement of objectives by each responsibility centres (listed in the “Annual Operative Budget”). Furthermore, the document (“Management Report”) attached to the “Financial Reporting” communicates the activities developed, meeting the need for political accountability. In the face of innovations introduced, it should be reported as in both Regions the budgeting and financial statement system will focus on the traditional financial dimension of management, ignoring the economic one.