'Public sector will take off'.

The public sector is not in decline and CIPFA will take advantage of its revival, the new chief executive of the public sector institute pledged this week. In his first full interview since taking over last week, Steve Freer, former treasurer at Warwickshire County Council, told Accountancy Age that recent reforms had brought new life to the public sector after two decades of decline. He said CIPFA was in a strong position to exploit the improvements. ‘We have to free ourselves from the mindset that the public sector is in decline. It will take off,’ he said. Freer takes over from David Adams who retired on 1 March after three years in CIPFA’s top post. Adams, who turned a deficit into a surplus and whose leadership saw a reversal of falling student numbers, revealed that he had to face angry institute staff shortly after joining CIPFA. However, after saying the meeting marked one of the worst moments during his time at CIPFA, he also described it as a turning-point for the institute in its struggle to reorganise and regain its former success. News extra, page 8.