The easiest cuts in public spending have been made. To make bigger savings without affecting its customers, government needs to find new ways to organise and deliver public services. For example, it has started to delegate to local organisations and contract out services, create market-like ways of choosing and supplying services, and use digital technology better.
To succeed, government needs new skills and new ways to manage customers, ensuring that services are not disrupted. It also needs to coordinate national priorities such as growth, environmental management and infrastructure development.
The NAO shares the lessons and good practice it has identified across government in specific aspects such as Strategic centre of government; Customer management; Digital services; User choice and protection; Economic growth; and Environmental sustainability.
Key NAO publications: Transformation guidance for audit committees (May 2018); The art of spending public money wisely (Oct 2015); Welfare reform - lessons learned (May 2015); Transforming government's contract management (Sep 2014); and Financial management in government (Jun 2013)
Transformation programmes can be highly complicated and risky. This guidance assists those overseeing them by setting out questions committees should ask during set-up, delivery and live-running phases.
Digital transformation has a mixed track record across government. It has not yet provided a level of change that will allow government to further reduce costs while still meeting people’s needs.
The Better Care Fund has not achieved the expected value for money, in terms of savings, outcomes for patients or hospital activity.
HMRC aimed to move more customers online thereby reducing staff costs but significant numbers of staff were let go before technical improvements were completed leading to a collapse in service quality in 2015. Services have since improved.
This overview of the NAO’s work on the government’s management of contracting examines subjects including the government’s commercial capability, accountability and transparency, and its management of contracted-out service delivery.
Probation services have been restructured on time and within cost targets during a period of major change but operational problems and risks to further service transformation need to be resolved if re-offending levels are to reduce.
This framework provides a structured, flexible approach to reviewing models. It is intended to aid those commissioning or undertaking analysis of a model with the aim of determining whether the model is robust and reasonable.
Since privatisation, Ofwat and Defra have overseen major improvements in water quality and service quality. Customers have seen a marked rise in bills but not the benefits of companies’ unexpected financial gains.
An interactive summary of the NAO’s presentations at Civil Service Live events, 2015, on four pervasive issues blocking public service improvement.
This paper explores the principles departments should use to manage provider failure. There is room for improvement in the way failure of providers is considered and managed.