Capability Reviews: Progress and Next Steps - The Civil Service

Delivery modelsWhy does this matter?In this report, the term ‘delivery model’ describes – in simple terms – how anorganisation is set up internally and how it is connected to delivery arms, partners oragents in order to deliver its services.The operation of departmental delivery models is one of the issues that has beenraised in each tranche of reviews as a concern. In Tranche 1 the focus was ondepartmental centres:‘Departmental centres must examine rigorously what the department is doingacross the range of activities, and assess how well it supports front-linedelivery and whether a particular function … needs to be enhanced,undertaken somewhere else or stopped altogether.’In Tranche 2:‘... there is scope for improving the understanding of appropriate [delivery]models, how they link together and, ultimately, the effectiveness of differentlevers to improve delivery to the public.’The Tranche 3 report noted that:‘To achieve complex and challenging delivery outcomes and efficiencies,departments need to make smart decisions about how they deliver them andabout the incentives, accountabilities, roles and responsibilities underpinningtheir operations.’The trends noted earlier about cross-departmental PSAs, a focus on delivery to thecustomer rather than on the provider, increased commissioning and a more diversenetwork of provision make this particularly salient. Understanding delivery andoperating an effective delivery model must be at the heart of the capabilitiesrequired by any government department, whether it delivers services directlyor operates purely as a sponsor/commissioner.50 COMMON CAPABILITY GAPS: PROGRESS AND NEXT STEPS