Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Acknowledged
The evaluation registry will mandate and publicly share government evaluation plans and reports.
Recommendation
The Head of the Evaluation Task Force told us it is working to encourage departments to share learning.40 She also told us about the ‘evaluation registry’ which holds information on what evaluation government has already done in the sector and what departments are planning for the future.41 The Head of the Evaluation Task Force is hopeful that the transparency provided by the registry will help drive healthy competition between departments to achieve their best.42 We challenged the Head of the Evaluation Task Force on whether those delivering programmes know about the registry. The Head of the Evaluation Task Force said that it was currently rolling the registry out across departments and that it will become mandatory from next year. The Task Force aims to ensure that evaluations are planned, plans are put on the registry and when the evaluation is complete departments put the final report on the registry, which should be viewable by members of the public in March 2024.43
Government Response Summary
The government states the Evaluation Task Force will continue to provide consultation, share findings, and support departmental analysts with evaluation data, clarifying that departments are ultimately responsible for their own evaluations. It does not explicitly confirm the mandatory rollout or public viewing date for the evaluation registry mentioned by the committee.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Evaluation Task Force will provide consultation and will share relevant findings on cross-government working that can be used in the analysis. These findings will continue to be used to shape HM Treasury’s advice on using models of cross- government working. The Evaluation Task Force will continue supporting departmental analysts with identifying project-specific evaluation data, particularly for projects within the Task Force’s priority areas, which are listed on its website. The Magenta Book sets the standard for evaluation and has a range of support available for the whole of government. The Task Force does not routinely identify data for every cross-government project, which is not practicable within existing resources given the countless examples of cross-government work taking place at any given time. Departments are ultimately responsible for evaluating their own programmes, including those that are delivered jointly with other departments, and are best placed to understand the data requirements to do this, working with relevant departments.