Press Release - Assessment of the Capability Review
programme
5 February 2009
The Cabinet Office’s Capability Review
programme aims to assess and improve government departments’
ability to deliver their objectives. The National Audit Office
today reports that the programme has led to evidence of greater
capability in departments. But departments have yet to show
that the programme has had an impact on outcomes in delivering
public services.
The Capability Review programme was launched
in 2005 to assess and compare systematically, for the first time,
individual departments’ organisational capabilities. Only
four other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development have initiatives comparable to the Capability
Reviews, in terms of scope, coverage and approach.
Action to tackle weaknesses in capability is
now a prominent feature of board business and every department has
a board member leading its review response. However, there is some
uncertainty in departments about whether, or how, the programme
will continue, risking a loss of momentum.
The first-round reviews found common
weaknesses in board leadership, determining the best way for
delivering public services and staff skills. There is now evidence
of improved capability, particularly in boards’ visibility and
cohesion.
Today’s NAO report also found:
- Capability Reviews are encouraging
departments to work together while at the same time sharpening
their focus on comparative performance;
- Capability Reviews focus on departments, but
services are often implemented by external agencies which are not
covered directly by reviews; and
- there is no benchmarking of departments’
capabilities against external organisations, which might offer
examples of best practice.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office,
said today:
“Capability Reviews are
intended to assess the organisational strengths and weaknesses of
government departments. There is evidence so far that departments
are indeed taking actions to improve their capabilities. It remains
to be seen how far these actions will result in improvements in the
delivery of public services.”
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at
www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained
from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Cabinet Office spent £5.5 million on the first-round of
reviews, equivalent to £324,000 for each department assessed, but
is delivering the second-round at a lower cost of £226,000 for each
department while increasing the support it provides to help
departments respond to their reviews.
- In the first round of reviews, completed between July and
December 2007, only one department was assessed as ‘strong’ or
‘well placed’ in more than half its 10 capability ratings.
Two-thirds of the 170 capability assessments for all 17 departments
rated a department less than ‘well placed’
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Tim Burr, is the head of
the National Audit Office which employs some 850 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 07/09
All enquiries to Mark
Anderson, NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7558
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