Press Release - Delivering Efficiently: Strengthening the links
in public service delivery chains.
10 March 2006
Few national targets for improving public services can be
achieved by central government departments alone. Successful
delivery of Whitehall’s targets, set out in Public Service
Agreements (PSAs), relies on a complex chain of organisations
involving local authorities and health trusts, as well as private,
voluntary and community organisations. Government departments
should build stronger partnerships with local bodies and come to a
better understanding of the challenges they face.
This is the key message of today’s joint report by the National
Audit Office and Audit Commission. This study analyses the
different ways in which public services are delivered, examines the
nature of the links between partners in public service delivery
chains, and explores how these can be made more efficient and
effective. It recommends that government departments and their
delivery partners ask themselves 12 key questions to help them
understand their capacity to deliver efficient and effective public
services. (See attached
Annex.)
The new report draws on a series of joint publications from the
Audit Commission and the National Audit Office which analyse
national and local aspects of three major PSA targets: supplying
affordable housing, promoting bus use, and halting the rise in
child obesity. (The last of these reports was prepared with the
Healthcare Commission)
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office,
said;
“People today have high expectations of public services.
If these expectations are to be satisfied, then both central
government and the many other partner organisations needed to
deliver the services must work together more closely.
“The relationships between all the partners in the delivery chain
must be clarified and managed better. Otherwise, the greater
complexity of mechanisms required to deliver improved services
might bring with it greater inefficiency and wasted
opportunity.”
Sir Michael Lyons, Acting Chairman of the Audit
Commission, said:
“Providing local public services, which offer value for
money and are tailored to the needs of different communities, is an
immensely complex task. It requires central and local government to
work closely together and to make the best use of a wide range of
other agencies. Our report sets out how better working between
Whitehall, which sets the key targets, and the many organisations
responsible for their delivery, can be fostered. We particularly
emphasise the importance of clarity of purpose and well-defined
responsibilities.”
Notes for Editors:
- This is the fourth joint study on Public Service Agreement
(PSA) targets. The first examined the use of buses and light rail.
The second examined the building of more affordable homes and the
third, produced with the Healthcare Commission, examined child
obesity.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website at www.nao.org.uk,
the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.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 which employs some 800 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.
- The Audit Commission is an independent body responsible for
ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently and
effectively, to achieve high quality local services for the public.
Our remit covers around 11,000 bodies in England, which between
them spend more than £180 billion of public money each year. Our
work covers local government, health, housing, community safety and
fire and rescue services.
- As an independent watchdog, we provide important information on
the quality of public services. As a driving force for improvement
in those services, we provide practical recommendations and spread
best practice. As an independent auditor, we ensure that public
services are good value for money and that public money is properly
spent.
Press Notice 20/06
All enquiries to Barry Lester, NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7937
Mobile: 07748 181692
Audit Commission press enquiries:
Amelia Dixon, Tel: 020 7166 2205
Mobile: 07716 098231