14 November 2003
The Treasury has rejected MPs' calls to allow the National Audit Office to scrutinise data from Whitehall departments that measures their progress against key improvement targets.
Gordon Brown's ministry slapped down the demand, made by the public administration select committee, by arguing that the existing scrutiny of systems used to collate performance information was adequate. Each ministry produces performance data to show the progress it is making against the targets outlined in its Public Service Agreement.
The Treasury's comments make clear that the recommendation to audit the data, first made by Lord Sharman in his 2001 report on accountability in central government, will not be implemented.
The rebuff came in the government's response, published on November 12 by the Treasury, to a report by the committee that criticised the target culture in Whitehall.
PASC chair Tony Wright told Public Finance the committee thought external validation of ministries' performance data was the best way to tackle concerns about its robustness. He said: 'This idea has been around as long as PSAs and is designed to strengthen the reliability of the data. We thought there would be a real gain to the credibility of PSAs.'
The government accepted many of the committee's other recommendations, although it made clear that targets would remain at the heart of the government's public service improvement agenda.
It pledged to ensure greater involvement in target-setting by frontline organisations and staff. It also said departments would be encouraged to consult widely with their associated organisations on the targets set as part of next year's Spending Review.
Wright welcomed the pledge to tackle flaws in the targets system. 'The government needs to communicate better and to dispel the impression that targets are hard Stalinist measures intended to be achieved to the last decimal point,' he said.
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