Whitehall's financial leadership is weak and fragmented compared with equivalent corporate finance functions in the private sector and there should be a greater focus on performance management, according to research by the Institute for Government.

The think-tank's study, Financial leadership for government says that while finance teams generally are increasingly taking on more strategic functions to support decision making and performance management, 'these strategic roles are often weaker at the very centre of government'.

The study says that in some areas, such as supporting performance management, 'central leadership roles are relatively under-developed', while efforts at a cross departmental level are 'more fragmented than that typically found in a private sector environment.'

The Institute for Government argues that these weaknesses, and particularly the poor arrangements for performance management, are specific to the UK, saying that: 'It is noticeable that 'the UK's Treasury does not take a leading responsibility for supporting performance management. In contrast, all the other organisations responsible for expenditure control play active roles in their respective countries' performance management systems'.

The report also says it is striking how weak the position of the leading finance professional in Whitehall is: 'a part-time post, acting as a first among equals with no formal input into key decision-making processes. In all other countries that we studied this is a senior, full-time post within a central organisation that is playing a clear role in the performance management system'.

The think-tank calls on government to draw on the experience of the private sector in running large, diversified organisations in order to develop 'a truly world leading initiative.'