Press Release - Measuring the Performance of Government
Departments
22 March 2001
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today
reported to Parliament developments in performance measurement
intended to support the achievement of Government aims and
objectives. For each Department, key objectives and associated
performance targets feature in a Public Service Agreement, which
underlies the resources allocated in spending reviews. These
arrangements put the United Kingdom among the leaders in public
sector performance measurement practice and provide a greater focus
on policy outcomes : more than two thirds of some 160 Public
Service Agreement targets now address such outcomes, such as
improved health and education.
Good performance measurement helps Departments to identify and
communicate their priorities, plan cost-effective services and
actively monitor progress. The targets need careful implementation
and must be supported by good quality data if they are to deliver
improvements in performance, as well as accountability to
Parliament and the public.
The report draws on the National Audit Office’s survey of the
challenges faced by Government Departments in developing and
implementing testing performance measures and an analysis of
performance measurement practices used in local authorities and
overseas.
Most Departments faced challenges in designing ways to measure
performance, including developing quantifiable measures showing
their contributions to outcomes and agreeing measures with other
Departments to support joined-up working. The report shows
how:
- clarifying the link between activities and objectives helps
Departments design performance measures and set targets - as it did
in planning for reductions in the level of tobacco smuggling;
and
- different performance measurement approaches can help
departments to work together. Examples shown include the use of a
common set of indicators to support an overarching objective, such
as that for sustainable development; the use of Agreements that cut
across Departmental boundaries and shared objectives for key
priority areas such as drugs abuse; and shared targets where
differing objectives overlap, such as that for international debt
reduction, related to both specific poverty alleviation and general
economic development objectives.
Departments also face challenges in implementing Public Service
Agreement targets so as to raise performance: 82 per cent of
departments found ensuring there were appropriate incentives for
success was a great challenge; 71 per cent felt the same about
giving a sense of ownership to front-line staff delivering
services. The report shows how departments can:
- improve the design of operational targets through consulting
key stakeholders;
- ensure that Public Service Agreement targets are integrated
into the planning of crucial tasks;
- provide relevant operational information to support front line
staff; and
- establish mechanisms which help these staff to raise
performance.
Acquiring performance data of the right quality posed a great
challenge for half of those surveyed, and minimising the costs of
data was also an issue. The report shows that:
- departments should determine the quality of data they need, and
then operate adequate quality assurance arrangements to ensure they
obtain quality data;
- active review of existing information against needs can lead to
more effective use of current sources, and can cut data collection
that is no longer necessary - cuts of up to 26 per cent in the
volume of data collected had been achieved; and
- there are no accepted standards that apply to the validation of
performance information, and arrangements for validation are rarely
indicated in descriptions of how Public Service Agreement targets
were to be measured.
Sir John Bourn said today:
"Good performance management can help Departments
improve their effectiveness and promote accountability to public
and Parliament. This report provides a series of case studies and
key questions that Departments need to consider in specifying
performance measures which support their objectives, in
implementing performance measurement in a way which improves
results and in collecting the data they need to manage and report
on their performance."
Notes for Editors
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 22/01
All enquiries to NAO Press Office:
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7798 7400