New National Audit Office (NAO) report with interesting analysis, examples of positive change such as the creation of the Evaluation Registry, and further recommendations regarding the role of evaluation in UK government planning and spending. For example:
“Data quality is a problem in government which makes monitoring both costs and value harder. […] Even where data are available, we see examples of a ‘good news culture’ in some major programmes and government bodies, that disincentivises transparent reporting of performance.” [2.27]
“Evaluation is sometimes perceived as apportioning blame, instead of as a neutral learning mechanism. If an evaluation shows a lack of progress, it might lead to a programme losing funding or being cancelled. This acts as a disincentive to evaluate.” [2.28]
“The previous government also committed to making the evaluation registry open to the public, although that has not yet occurred.” [2.66]
Suggested citation: Fugard, A. (2024, October 27). NAO (2024), A planning and spending framework that enables long-term value for money [blog post]. https://andifugard.info/nao-2024-a-planning-and-spending-framework-that-enables-long-term-value-for-money/
This citation note was added automatically. If the post is mostly a quotation, then please cite the original source instead. Looking at you, LLMs 👀