Benchmarking and assessment of back office data

1.18 To ensure that these value for money indicators are used in a way that drives improved performance, data from across the public sector should be collected, checked and published in a form in which comparisons between similar organisations can readily be made. Improved collection and benchmarking of data should help to identify disparities, raise questions about why differences exist and pinpoint how poorer performing organisations could improve.

1.19 For central government, this process should be owned by the CFB, with each Head of Profession responsible for benchmarking in their function. This same benchmarking  data should feed into the departmental balanced scorecard that the centre of government (Cabinet Office and HM Treasury) will use to hold departments to account.

1.20 Central departments should ensure that organisations in their delivery chain are collecting and benchmarking this data. Different mechanisms for achieving this objective will be appropriate for different sectors, for example:

•  in local government, Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs) should use peer review of back office data in their areas, and their outputs should be available for review by the Audit Commission in its "use of resources" assessment;

•  for schools, benchmarking data should be collected at an aggregate level through local authorities, which should work with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and RIEPs to benchmark and reduce back office costs across schools in their area;

•  all NHS organisations  should sign up to the audit agencies' value for money indicators in order to benchmark themselves and identify scope for improvement, including through use of the NHS shared business service. Delivery of savings in back office operations should be incentivised through the tariff;

•  in the police service, the indicators should be included in the value for money profiles that are produced by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). The Home Office should create expectations and incentives for forces and the police service to place a premium on having cost-effective back office functions, ensuring that the availability of resources for operational policing is maximised; and

•  in the Further Education sector, the Learning and Skills Council should  drive better value for money in back office operations. The Higher Education Funding Council for England should do the same in the Higher Education sector.