The Annual Independent Fiscal Review was commissioned by the Fiscal and Economic Policy Group to provide an independent, external assessment of the States' fiscal conduct against the criteria in the Fiscal Framework.
The role of the report is to provide independent analysis, review current fiscal conduct and draw attention to any areas where actions are in conflict with the long‐term objective. It also provides an assessment of risks relating to fiscal strategy and raises any general areas of concern that policymakers should be seeking to address. It is not an advisory report; its remit is not to provide or recommend policy solutions to those issues raised.
The 2014 review was the fourth in the series conducted by Professor Geoffrey Wood, a Professor of Economics at Cass Business School in London and Professor of Monetary Economics at the University of Buckingham. The 2015 review was conducted by Professor Wood and Dr Andrew McLaughlin, Chief Executive Officer at Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited. Before re-joining the bank, Dr McLaughlin worked in corporate finance for Ernst & Young. He holds a first-class honours degree in Economics and Politics, and his PhD dissertation earned him the Walter Bagehot prize for best UK dissertation in the field of government and public administration.
