Press Release - Joining Up to Improve Public Services
7 December 2001
It is important that organisations work well together and that
departments tackle the barriers to joint working so that long
lasting improvements are made to the quality of services that the
public receive, Sir John Bourn, the Head of the NAO, reported to
Parliament today.
The report evaluates the achievements of 5 initiatives and
highlights their good practice: the Rough Sleepers Unit, Sure
Start, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships, Business
Link Partnerships and British Trade International.
By drawing on these case studies the Report identifies a number
of risks that departments and their partners need to manage
carefully to ensure that joint working initiatives produce
benefits:
- removing barriers to joint working by
providing incentives for organisations to work together because
their practices can reinforce their own objectives rather than
joining up;
- avoiding excluding groups of clients, for
example those on low incomes or who work shifts, by using
consultation and research to assess the full range of clients’
requirements;
- informing intended beneficiaries of the services
available by publicising and marketing services to ensure
that the public are aware of the support available to them and how
to access it;
- ensuring benefits are sustainable by ensuring
that the new methods of working become an integral part of
departments’ and local agencies’ normal day to day working;
- measuring performance to assess whether the
initiatives are achieving their intended benefits and to take
action to address shortfalls in performance;
- assessing cost effectiveness It is too early
to say whether joint working initiatives have been cost effective
and it is important that departments carry out detailed assessments
of the cost effectiveness of different forms of joint working,
including their productivity; whether improvements are sustainable;
and the contribution of different partners; and
- promoting accountability so that there are
reliable mechanisms for reporting expenditure and performance to
those funding an initiative and to Parliament; and so that citizens
have a means of redress where the quality of services is poor.
Following from this assessment, the report suggests key
questions for departments to consider to ensure that initiatives
achieve the intended benefits by successful joint working and
manage the associated risks.
To help achieve this the NAO recommend that the Cabinet Office
build on their existing work to provide an increased focus in
realising the potential to improve public services by producing and
disseminating concise but comprehensive guidance on good practice
and on which forms of joint working work best in which
circumstances so that new partnerships do not reinvent the wheel.
The guidance should be made widely available to
all organisations.
Sir John Bourn said today:
"In the past departments have often been concerned with
their own specific objectives, ignoring the wider contribution they
can make to public services. The most difficult issues faced by
society – drug abuse, social deprivation, juvenile crime and inner
city decline – require a co-ordinated and combined response.
Today’s report highlights the best ways for all the organisations
involved to work together to achieve their shared
ends."
Notes for Editors
The achievements of the 5 joint working initiatives.
- Rough Sleepers - The number of people counted
as sleeping rough has reduced by 62 per cent from 1,850 in June
1998 to 700 in June 2001.
- Early Years Development and Childcare
Partnerships - free part-time nursery places are available
for 4 year olds and over 50 % of 3 year olds; and 140,000 new
childcare places have been created.
- Business Link partnerships – There is evidence
that businesses assisted by Business Link partnerships have higher
productivity and profitability than those of non-assisted
businesses.
- Feedback from parents receiving Sure Start
services indicates that the programme is making a difference. But
it is too early to produce evidence of measurable change in the
long term outcomes set out in its targets.
- British Trade International’s customer
satisfaction ratings have risen, and use of web-based information
by customers has doubled since 30 different sources of information
were rationalised into a single site.
Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website at http://www.nao.org.uk/ Hard copies can
be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the head
of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and the
NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 58/01
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