BS2912 Public Administration in Britain

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain

• 5 Agencies Best Value

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Next Steps Report (1988) proposes
• All the executive functions of government (paying
  benefits, issuing licences, collecting taxes)
  should be responsibility of agencies
• Agency managers should have considerable freedom
  to manage their agency, leading to managerial
  efficiency
• By 1998 there were 138 agencies operating

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Next Steps Report (1988) proposes
• Own Chief Executives (not Ministers)
• Own internal accounting procedures
• Own responsibility for pay and rations within a
  fixed budget
• A framework document to define responsibilities
• Series of performance indicators to judge
  effectiveness

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Examples
• Employment Service ? Meteorological Office
• Prison Service ? UK Passport Agency
• Benefits Agency ? Ordnance Survey
• DVLA ? Office of National
• Highways Agency Statistics

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Has it worked ? 1
• Survey by Karbhari Pendlebury concludes
• Agency managers perceive they have more freedom
• Argue for increased effectiveness,
  value-for-money
• But accounting systems (annuality, virement) do
  not fit easily with agencification
• Budgetary controls were restrictive

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Has it worked ? 2
• As the civil servants were previously
  unenthusiastic, this might be considered a good
  test
• Respondents from trading fund agencies much more
  enthusiastic than others
• Views of users has not yet been sought!

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Pessimistic view of Next Steps
• Private sector working practices needed to
  pervade Whitehall
• Public service ethos does not exist
• Not what can we sell but what must we keep
• Accountability is fudged
• All agencies should be considered for
  privatisation at least once every five years

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Optimistic view of Next Steps
• Logical development from Raynor efficiency
  scrutinies
• Move from a monolithic to a more federal
  structure
• Benefits perceived for both Ministers and Chief
  Executives as well as the customer, the taxpayer,
  and agency staff

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Accountability 1
• Constitutional theory is that policy is decided
  by the Minister who is answerable to Parliament
• Day-to-day operations are handled by the agency
• A framework document defines the responsibility
  of each to the other
• Neither should dabble in the affairs of the
  other

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Accountability 2
• But in the case of a large agency (e.g. Prisons)
  it is hard to divorce policy from operations
  e.g. is locking up prisoners up all day a
  policy descision or an operational decision ?
• In practice, accountability is weakened if chief
  executives cannot be questioned by Parliament
• Small agencies now have no political control
  (because they are under control of civil servants)

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Recent Developments
• Accent not on creating new agencies but
  developing performance initiatives within them
• Two thirds of agencies are now engaged in
  benchmarking against the Business Excellence
  Model
• Agency Performance and Efficiency

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Best Value
• Has replaced CCT (Compulsory Competitive
  Tendering)
• Is now regarded as a key point in modernising
  local government
• Requires local authorities to review functions,
  publish annual plans showing past and projected
  performance and introduce a rigorous programme of
  audit and inspection

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Modernising Government - Summary
• Make public services available 24 hours a day
• Joined up government
• Remove unnecessary regulation
• Deliver all dealings with government
  electronically by 2008
• New Learning Labs
• Incentivise public service staff
• New focus on delivery

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Modernising Government - 3 aims
• Joined up government
• Public service users, not providers are the focus
• Delivery of high quality and efficient public
  services

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BS2912 Public Administration in Britain 5
Agencies Best Value

• Modernising Government - 5 commitments
• Better long-term policy making (not just reacting
  to events)
• Responsive public services
• Quality public services
• Information age government
• Value and modernise public service, not denigrate
  it