Policy Hub
'Modernising our public services is crucial to everything the Government wants to achieve for the country. Strong and high quality public services are essential if we are achieve our central aim of spreading prosperity and opportunity' - Prime Minister, March 2002
The need for the Civil Service to improve its capability and capacity to deliver programmes and projects has been highlighted by a number of sources.
This area of Policy Hub explains the context behind the various initiatives to improve the implementation and delivery of policy; provides links to the key players; describes initiatives to improve skills in project and programme delivery and provides examples of successful delivery.
The Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU) ensures that the Government achieves its delivery priorities across the key areas of public service: health, education, crime and asylum, and transport. The Unit's work is carried out by a team of staff with practical experience of delivery, drawn from the public and private sectors.
Capability reviews - The Capability Review Programme is part of the wider Civil Service reform agenda. It will lead to a Civil Service which is better at delivering public services. The aims of the reviews are to:
The reviews provide an assessment of capability for departments, identify key areas for improvement and set out key actions.
The Cabinet Office Delivery and Reform Online website sets out the Government's delivery and reform agenda and explains what is happening to achieve this key goal, with links to key sites.
The Office of Government Commerce is developing programmes to improve the capacity of departmental, Agency and NDPB staff to manage and deliver major projects.
Better public services [2004 Spending Review] - HM Treasury, 2004
The Public Sector Benchmarking Service has been developed as a partnership between the Cabinet Office and HM Customs & Excise with the key aim of promoting effective benchmarking and sharing good practices across the public sector. The PSBS now includes the Good Practice Database developed and maintained by the Cabinet Office. This holds over 1,000 examples of good practice from public service organisations from all over the United Kingdom.
Charter Mark is the government’s national standard for customer service excellence. It is a practical tool for all public service organisations seeking to deliver customer focused services. Designed to put the customer at the heart of service delivery,Charter Mark helps improve services by setting challenging requirements for applicants. Further details of the criteria and how to apply can be found on the Charter Mark website: www.chartermark.gov.uk
The GCN Engage programme provides tools and best practice for communicators and policy makers in government, to help ensure we engage with our customers at the outset of policy development. There is also guidance on how communcators can add real value to the policy development and delivery process.
The e-Government Unit in the Cabinet Office (formerly Office of the e-Envoy) publishes regular electronic service delivery reports of progress which departments are making towards achieving the electronic service delivery target.
Successful Delivery Toolkit, Office of Government Commerce , 2002 - brings together policy and best practice in a single point of reference; helps users ask the critical questions about capability and project delivery and gives practical advice on how to improve. It includes the tools element of the Improving Programme and Project Delivery (IPPD) initiative 'to improve the Civil Service capability to deliver programmes and projects: Policy to Successful Delivery .
The Charter Mark Team have developed a self-assessment toolkit to help organisations improve their customer service and to help them decide when to apply for Charter Mark.
Modern policy-making: ensuring policies deliver value for money.- National Audit Office, 2001 (HC 289 Session 2001-2002) noting that:
'Departments should make arrangements to engage implementers early so that the practicability of policies can be assessed. .... Involving implementers closely as policies are designed can help identify and manage risks of their effectiveness, secure ownership and commitment from staff, and identify practical solutions.... '
Audit Commission publications:
HM Treasury have a Public Service Delivery and Performance page
Also useful is: Customer-focused government: from policy to delivery, HM Treasury, 2001
The Innovation Forum was set up in May 2003 to run a joint work programme (97kb) between the 22 English councils who received excellent CPA (Comprehensive Performance Assessment) scores and government departments. The forum exists to pioneer new and innovative ways of delivering public services to local communities.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies published a paper on 15 May 2003 (Incentives, choice and accountability in the provision of public services - pdf, 318kb) which proposes a new model for the delivery of public services using competition and incentives. The paper argues that ownership issues are given too much weight in the debate about public service reform; what is more important are the mission of organisations and their ability to motivate agents.
ChangeUp is the Capacity Building and Infrastructure Framework for the Voluntary and Community sector, published by the Home Office Active Community Unit in June 2004. It describes the basic architecture of support which frontline organisations need.
The Better Policy Making area of Policy Hub (click the left-hand toolbar) provides links to guidance and best practice on risk management
HM Treasury's Risk Programme and the NAO have highlighted how early risk assessment and management can help to ensure that policies can be successfully delivered. A tool for policy makers (doc) identifies ten main areas where departments need to pay particular attention from the outset of policy development, if they are to deliver successfully. The Risk Management Assessment framework (pdf) is a useful tool in this process
Your Delivery Strategy: a practical look at business planning and risk , Cabinet Office, 2001 [pdf - 160kb]
Identifying good practice in the use of programme and project management in policy making: practitioners' perspectives (pdf, 613kb) is a report commissioned by the Policy Studies Directorate, CMPS and the IPPD team within the OPSR. The report presents a distillation of the views and experiences of Civil Servants with policy and PPM backgrounds who have successfully applied PPM to policy and sets out some of their 'wisdom'. A summary version (pdf, 79kb) of the report is also available.
The Charter Mark website includes a number of good practice examples drawing on the experience of a range of public service organisations which have successfully achieved the CharterMark standard.
The GCN Engage website has a number of best practice case studies that demonstrate how successful strategic communication can help you engage with your customers and achieve your policy objectives.
Leading
from the front line - Cabinet Office, 2000 - (pdf,
1272kb) celebrates excellence and sharing of best practice, and is a guide
for headteachers, NHS managers, senior police officers and senior local
government offices. In his foreward, the Prime Minister reiterates his four
principles of public service reform and emphasises the centrality of customers'
needs and aspirations in designing and delivering services.
Putting People at the Heart of Public Services (pdf, 864kb) is aimed at public service managers and outlines the Government's strategy for the next phase of reform. It recognises the progress that has been made and explains how we want to deliver a more personal approach to services, one that is grounded on principles of:
Involving front-line staff in policy making (pdf, 169kb) includes case studies that have been used to identify and disseminate effective practice in the involvement of front-line staff in the development of policy, as a part of the Better Policy Making agenda. A summary version (pdf, 65kb) of the report is also available.
Delivering Public Services - Engaging and Energising People - a report published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development in March 2003, explores the ways in which public sector managers have been able to transform organisations. The report includes case studies featuring public sector organisations that have achieved significant performance improvement in spite of having to cope with huge changes and demanding targets.
National Audit Office (NAO) publications:
The NAO also published three linked reports which focus on the actions that particular agencies have taken to improve service delivery:
See the NAO website for a full list of all NAO publications
Better public services through Call Centres.-House of Commons. Public Accounts Committee, 5 June 2003 - examines the quality and cost of public services delivered through departmental call centres
Better service, better working lives: how health and education services are delivering for women (pdf, 95.1kb) - published by the Cabinet Office's Women and Equality Unit in December 2001. Reports on research into the experiences of women in both using and working in health and education services and provides examples of best practice in the delivery of better services in these spheres.
The Quality Networks are locally run by groups of people from all areas and levels of public service which aim to share information on developments in best practice, compare progress in areas of common interest; build partnerships between public service organisations and encourage problem sharing and solving.
Policy Excellence Guide on the PSBS Notice Board