The Operational Efficiency Programme as a whole has identified the need to build upon existing forms of accountability and introduce measures to improve performance management so that they are underpinned by good data and information, lead to legitimate challenge to those who are underperforming; and are taken seriously by senior stakeholders.
Actions to achieve this should include:
• a value for money review group to support and challenge departmental performance, looking beyond the data to identify areas that warrant more intensive investigation, and completing focused reviews of individual departments, delivery chains or functions across government where benchmarking suggests there is scope for greater efficiency;
• regular discussion of value for money and operational efficiency in the relevant Cabinet committee, in order to hold ministers and departments to account, encourage senior officials and ministers to celebrate success and offer advice where progress is not being made;
• a designated minister responsible for championing value for money in each department, to reinforce the Government's ongoing commitment to delivering value for money gains and raise its profile;
• clarification of the role of departmental non-executive board members in promoting, supporting and challenging departments' performance on value for money; and
• the embedding of operational efficiency deliverables through reference to individual elements of the Operational Efficiency Programme in Senior Civil Service performance agreements.