Capability Reviews: Progress and Next Steps - The Civil Service

• Prioritisation. When asked what would make the most difference to enablingchange to happen, the most common factor identified by the SCS was ‘clearobjectives’ – ‘real prioritisation: deciding what the key changes are and reallyfollowing them through’ and ‘clear communication … about goals andmechanisms for getting there, and being very clear about individual roles’. Factorshindering change included ‘too many competing priorities’ and ‘lack of commonobjectives and prioritisation’. There is a widespread perception within departmentsthat leaders are not setting priorities effectively enough, and this links back to thechallenge of developing strategies that are both deliverable and delivered.What is the centre doing to build capability in delivery and performance?Delivery and performance involves PMDU, HM Treasury, OGC, the Strategy Unit andTransformational Government. The heads of profession for operational delivery andpolicy delivery also have a key role in improving skills in this area.• Departments’ progress towards delivering the 30 new PSAs will be monitored andassessed by PMDU, which previously had a narrower focus on the PrimeMinister’s top priorities for delivery.Case study: Improving performance management in government‘Going forward, the Government has announced a new performance managementframework for the 2008–2011 CSR period. This includes a streamlined set of30 new PSAs, which set the Government’s priority outcomes for the next threeyears and span departmental boundaries, setting out a shared vision and leadingcollaboration at all levels in the delivery system. The new framework also includes:• a single Delivery Agreement for each PSA, developed in consultation withfront-line workers and the public, and published to strengthen accountabilityand ownership across organisational boundaries;• a key role for new Cabinet Committees which will drive performance on crossgovernmentPSAs by regularly monitoring progress and holding departments andprogrammes to account. The Government is also examining the scope for buildingPSAs explicitly into the performance management framework for the Civil Service –ensuring a relentless focus on PSA delivery in Whitehall;• a small basket of national, outcome-focused indicators to support each PSA,ensuring robust and transparent performance measurement alongside genuinerationalisation, with a significant reduction in the overall number of priorityindicators attached to PSAs;• targets used where appropriate to deliver improved performance andaccountability; with nationally set targets reserved for a small subset of PSAindicators that require firm central direction, and far greater space for increasedlocal target setting;48 COMMON CAPABILITY GAPS: PROGRESS AND NEXT STEPS