Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
The Cabinet Office explained that the Digital function has made progress identifying the cost savings...
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office explained that the Digital function has made progress identifying the cost savings of moving to permanent staff from contract labour and, as part of this, the function has recognised the indirect cost benefit of retaining skills within the organisation. It also told us that the maturity of the Commercial function meant that it is able to point to direct savings as a result of its work, and told us that the increasing standardisation of processes across government—particularly in the Finance and HR functions—will generate future savings which are likely to stem from increasing automation.35
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2021 6.2 In 2020, the measuring the impact of government functions (to deliver better outcomes and public services) project, commissioned by the Civil Service Chief Operating Officer from the Chief Executive Officer of the Government Internal Audit Agency, concluded that measuring four factors provides an assessment of whether the government functions are improving their contribution to the delivery of public service outcomes. These four factors are: ● Functional relationships - how senior officials in departments assess the strength of their relationships with the government functions; ● Financial and non-financial benefits - whether the government functions are delivering financial and non-financial benefits to departments and improving their return on investment (RoI); ● Process efficiency - whether internal functional processes are becoming more efficient - i.e. productivity and process times; and ● Functional capability - Do the Government functions have the required capability - i.e. professional expertise and whether functional standards are being applied. 6.3 These are being used to develop a performance framework for use at the start of the 2021-22 financial year, which starts with a set of common questions that would apply to all of the functions. Functions are currently deciding on their most appropriate metrics which would answer these questions, some of which will vary from function to function, given their differing subject matter. The Finance function has designed its performance framework and will begin reporting in April 2021. HM Treasury is collaborating closely with the Government Internal Audit Agency and the Cabinet Office to help ensure a consistent and robust approach to measuring functional impact. 6.4 Functions are also playing a key role in advising and supporting departments as part of the government’s reformed planning and performance framework. Following on from the publication of provisional priority outcomes and metrics alongside Spending Review 2020, functions are supporting the development of departments’ Outcome Delivery Plans. This includes determining how functional activity supports the delivery of an organisation’s priority outcomes and wider objectives, helping identify and manage delivery risks and assessing deliverability. 6.5 Beyond this work, the Green Book provides a common methodology across government on the design and appraisal of proposals that achieve government policy objectives and deliver social value. It provides guidance on measuring costs and benefits, alongside guidance on monitoring and evaluating before, during and after implementation. The Green Book Review 2020 made numerous changes to make the guidance easier to apply in practice and placed greater emphasis on both the importance of establishing clear objectives and high-quality evaluation. In addition, to ensure that this world-leading framework has real-world impact, HM Treasury is embarking on a widespread agenda of culture-change to ensure the guidance of the Green Book is followed not just in economic appraisal but in supporting policy development and delivery across government.