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Spending Review
In 1998 this Government took the important step of setting out in Public Service Agreements (PSAs) the service improvements, key reforms, and much-needed modernisation that we would deliver. We made commitments not just for what we would put into public services in terms of money, people, and policies, but also for the specific results on which we would be judged.
Targets drive good performance by clarifying the final outcomes on which services ought to focus, and encourage the less good to rise to the level of the best. Making an explicit statement of priorities in every area of policy and service around which all departments can organise reduces the risk of attention switching from one initiative to another. The targets for attainment at age 11, together with their supporting strategies, have helped drive an increase from 57 per cent in 1996 to 71 per cent in 1999 in literacy; and from 54 per cent to 69 per cent in numeracy. The joint targets we have set have encouraged real improvements in joint working. For instance, the target we set to reduce the time taken for young people to be processed through the Criminal Justice System has already focused action to achieve a reduction from 142 days to 96. In the 2000 Spending Review, the Government has set targets to make sure that everyone benefits from improved public services, including targets building on the improvements to attainment in schools, raising employment rates, cracking down on crime, improving health, and beating congestion.
This year's departmental reports, published in March, gave a full report on how we were doing against detailed quantified commitments across the public services. The targets we set out after the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) have helped motivate Ministers and public servants to deliver our ambitious and challenging agenda. They have helped us focus on the promises we have made and the improvements we want to deliver for the British people. They have helped to make government more transparent and accountable, providing public servants, Parliament and the public with a clear statement of what we want to achieve.
The 2000 Spending Review builds on the success of the first PSAs by setting challenging targets for the next three years focused clearly on priorities. This is the most ambitious attempt internationally to set explicit goals for outcomes across the whole of government. We have made a number of improvements to these important agreements. The PSAs in this White Paper focus on the key improvements in services that we are seeking. We will be publishing departments' plans for good management of their resources, both money and people, in new Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs) this autumn.
The 2000 Spending Review White Paper shows the resources we are devoting to our priorities. The PSAs explain what we will deliver in return. The SDAs set out how departments will do it, and how they will ensure good value for money in their operations.
The Public Service Agreements which follow are the detailed statement of the Government's commitments for the next three years. They are agreements with the taxpayer, something for something, for the resources that are put in. We will continue to report our performance annually against these clear, measurable targets. Their achievement is critical to this Government's agenda.
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