Increased Resources to Improve Public Services,a Progress Report on Departments' Preparations: House of Commons Papers 2003-04,234
About this book
Public service agreements (PSAs) were introduced in 1998 to ensure that the allocation of public funds by government departments is focused on achieving improvements in service delivery, with outcomes measured by a series of performance targets set by the Treasury.
Extra public spending of £61 billion over three years was announced by the Treasury in 2002, targeted on key public services such as education, health and transport.
This report by the National Audit Office examines preparations by the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health and the Department for Transport to maximise use of these extra resources to deliver service improvements.
The report identifies five critical issues for consideration, which also apply generally to other departments, regarding: the complexity of the delivery chain; the capacity of delivery organisations; resource targeting; broad risk management strategies; and performance monitoring.
