home | news | site index

125/00                                                                                              

3 November 2000

NEW MEASURES ARE SET OUT BY ANDREW SMITH TO DRIVE UP PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE:

PUBLICATION OF SERVICE DELIVERY AGREEMENTS

See the SDA White Paper and a full list of Departmental SDAs

New measures to ensure that the money the Government is investing in public services is being spent more effectively are set out today by the Chief Secretary Andrew Smith. A White Paper “ Service Delivery Agreements  2001– 2004 : a guide” sets out how the Government will meet its performance targets (Public Service Agreements) and how it will modernise and reform itself to help deliver those targets. In a major exercise 45 Government Departments are publishing their detailed Service Delivery Agreements on their individual websites, so that the public can see for themselves what action is being planned. 

Andrew Smith said:

“ This Government is determined to deliver better public services and has shown that commitment in the extra resources we have made available. But investment is only the start of the process – we are also determined to drive up performance through a programme of modernisation and reform to ensure that that money is being spent effectively so everyone can benefit from improved services.    

We have already set out demanding performance targets in our Public Service Agreements. The Service Delivery Agreements being published today show how we plan to deliver those targets on the ground. And that is not all, there will be a rigorous monitoring process and action will be taken where there is a risk that a Department’s performance is off track.

We have given public sector employees the investment and tools they need to do their job – we are now working together to ensure the public see the changes we all want to see.”

SDAs provide a picture of what each Department is doing over the next three years to improve their efficiency and performance through the use of management tools, benchmarking, focusing on consumers, access to services, ensuring policies and services respond to the needs of all groups in our society, managing staff, putting services on-line, and improving policy making.

For the major Departments their SDA underpins the Public Service Agreements published in July. For smaller Departments, who do not have a PSA, the SDA sets out the outcomes they will deliver and how they will deliver them.

Parliament and the public will be given regular information in annual Departmental reports on progress against plans set out in their SDAs. A Cabinet Committee chaired by the Chancellor will meet regularly with Ministers accountable for delivery to assess progress and recommend action.           

NOTES TO EDITORS

Cross Departmental reviews were an important feature of the 2000 Spending Review and the SDA’s show how their conclusions are being put into action. One of the cross – Departmental reviews, Sure Start, is publishing its own SDA, for other reviews the plans in place are reflected in the SDAs of the Departments jointly responsible for their delivery.