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On 26 March 2009, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report (Innovation across central government) which argues that, as government faces increasing pressure to do more with fewer financial resources, as well as confront challenges such as climate change and an ageing population, it will need to make the most of opportunities to improve the delivery of public services.
The report finds that departments are still not maximising opportunities to innovate and suggests that there are often barriers which prevent public servants from developing innovations through to implementation.
Most cases of innovation seen by the NAO originated with senior management. The report insists that there is the potential to encourage greater innovation from front line staff and service users.
It acknowledges that at the front line, public servants can be reluctant to put forward ideas where they may not appreciate how innovation relates to the goals of the organisation. Similarly, they can also resist change which they feel is forced upon them. Other barriers to innovation encountered by public servants include risk averse attitudes within departments and a concentration on targets, budgets and high profile national initiatives.
Clear guidance and signals from leaders and senior management within departments could help remove some of these obstacles. The report urges departments to develop detailed strategies to promote and develop innovation.
Estimates by the NAO suggest that departments have allocated at least £3 billion in the form of innovation budgets and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has announced a further £2.5 billion to be spent encouraging and supporting innovation from 2008/9 to 2010/11.
The report emphasises that projects supported by departmental innovation budgets should have measures in place to ensure their benefits are being realised. Accordingly, it sets out survey work which could be used to develop measures of a department’s innovative capacity and to determine how effectively any money is being spent.