Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted
Identify key data and build analytical capability for effective cross-government project delivery and evaluation.
Conclusion
Many cross-government projects that come before this Committee are hindered by missing or inadequate data. The government has historically had an issue with poor quality and inconsistent data and with ineffective data sharing arrangements. Whilst there have been some positive improvements, such as establishing data standards across government, difficulty with data sharing was the most commonly identified barrier in a recent HM Treasury survey about cross-government working. In addition, insufficient data capacity and capability across government means the skills needed to interpret data are not always available, which can hinder projects, and make it difficult to evaluate effectively what works. Recommendation 2: HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office should work with the Evaluation Taskforce and the Analysis function to: • identify the key data needed to deliver, monitor and evaluate cross- government projects; and • help departments to collect the data and have the analytical capability to interpret it.
Government Response Summary
The government states that the Evaluation Task Force already supports departments by upskilling staff through its Evaluation Academy and providing guidance on data. The ONS Integrated Data Service also enables data sharing, and the Analysis Function continues to support departments' analytical expertise.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The Evaluation Task Force, as a joint HM Treasury/Cabinet Office team, will continue to support analytical teams in departments both in upskilling their own staff and colleagues, and improving evaluation practice across government. As part of this, the Task Force already runs a free Evaluation Academy to teach government officials how to train their own colleagues in vital evaluation skills. This has already upskilled over 100 trainers who in turn have passed their skills on to over 1,000 colleagues. The Task Force will continue to provide details to departments on how to identify, collect and analyse data required for conducting a suitable and useful evaluation. One key enabler of this will be the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Integrated Data Service (IDS) which provides access to deidentified data, analytical and visualisation tools, in a secure multi- cloud infrastructure, for accredited researchers and analysts. The IDS offers departments the ability to share data within a secure cloud-native environment and makes these data available for cross-departmental analysis where there are relevant permissions. The Analysis Function will continue to support departments around analytical expertise required in high profile projects and policy areas. Directors of Analysis in each department are ultimately responsible for the analytical capability in each department.