The Committee of Public Accounts stated that “Many public services are unnecessarily complex and bureaucratic, which increases costs and reduces quality” [PAC 17th Report 05-06, para 19]. The Committee identified the following factors which should be addressed or for which greater progress is needed.
Please click one of the factors below to go to a list of questions for organisations to use to review their progress against each factor.
| Factors which need to be addressed or where greater progress is needed | Signs of success* |
|---|---|
| 1. Simplify and streamline complex processes which increase costs and the likelihood of error. | Simplifying and
streamlining complex processes leading to lower estimated costs
and measured rates of error. On issues pertaining to the use
of official forms, Departments could perform self-assessments
using the high-level checklist at paras 14 to 16 of the
Executive Summary to NAO’s ‘Difficult Forms: How Government
Agencies Interact with Citizens’. |
| 2. Reduce tiers of expensive bureaucracy and multiple funding streams which also complicate accountability for the use of public money. | Prior to the
Pre-Budget Report 2006 Departments and Agencies are producing
Simplification Plans which will be updated annually.
Simplification is achieved by merging funding streams, removing
obsolete regulations, streamlining data requirements, and many
other ways. The plans are scrutinised and published by the
independent Better Regulation Commission. A favourable Better Regulation Commission report on the Department’s Simplification Plan is a strong sign of success. |
* The “Signs of Success” are intended to help senior management to quickly determine whether the factor identified by the Committee has been addressed in their organisation.
