In countries such as the United Kingdom, the need to manage fi nances in a professional mannerhas been hampered by the severe fi scal constraints of the 2008 fi nancial crisis. These pressuresare likely to persist in the long term as a result of an aging population and rising public expectationsof the quality of public services.Whereas much attention has been paid to technical reforms to improve budgeting, expenditurecontrol, accounting, and auditing, less attention has been given to the process of developing skilledfinancial managers, whose expertise is key to sustained improvement in the management of publicfinances. Successive governments in the United Kingdom have recognized the need to strengthenprofessionalism in financial management, but the financial crisis gave an additional impetus forchange. This change has been refl ected in policy statements, changes in recruitment and humanresource management practices, and the development of professional networks in accounting,audit, procurement, and project management.Increasing Professionalism in Public Finance Management: A Case Study of the United Kingdomdescribes the journey from a civil service where generalist skills were overwhelmingly preferred towardone where professional technical skills in finance are recognized and valued. This book represents oneof a number of country case studies aimed at sharing information about alternative paths and modelsto help developing countries seeking to strengthen public fi nancial management skills on a long-termsustainable basis.This book will be of importance to public policy makers and public practitioners looking for waysto improve the quality of public sector management and to a range of professional finance/management bodies looking to strengthen their relevance to the government sector.