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Benchmarking : What is it?

Benchmarking : What is it?. Dr. Clive Grace Presentation to the Local Government and Regeneration Committee in relation to Strand 2 of its Inquiry into Public Services Reform Scottish Parliament 10 th September 2012. What it is & why it matters Varieties & Scope Purposes Issues

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Benchmarking : What is it?

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  1. Benchmarking : What is it? Dr. Clive Grace Presentation to the Local Government and Regeneration Committee in relation to Strand 2 of its Inquiry into Public Services Reform Scottish Parliament 10th September 2012

  2. What it is & why it matters • Varieties & Scope • Purposes • Issues • Theories of Change and Improvement • Politics, Politicians, and Benchmarking • An arrow not a silver bullet • Be systematic but not one ‘system’ Benchmarking

  3. Comparison of services against an external standard • Matters because: • Cost and scale of services • Vertical fiscal imbalance • Public aversion to ‘postcode lottery’ • Local representation and service delivery without (much) local taxation What it is and why local performance matters

  4. What is benchmarked? • Services • Corporate capacity • Inputs, outputs, or outcomes • How are the benchmarks set? • Financial benchmarks for economy • Productivity benchmarks for efficiency • Innovation benchmarks for excellence • Who does it? • Self regulation • Sector led regulation • External agency Taxonomy of Benchmarking

  5. Benchmarking is ubiquitous • Service cost and technical comparison (APSE, CIPFA, WAO Benchmarking Clubs) • Statutory performance indicators • Whole authority & Whole area assessments • Excellence schemes • Peer review and challenge • ‘Communities of practice’ • Improvement Plans? Outcome Agreements? BVA1 and 2? Variety and Scope

  6. Economy Efficiency Effectiveness Excellence.... ....Evasion? ....Austerity? Purposes

  7. Definitions and units for comparison • (Very little comparison of public services between England, Scotland and Wales) • Data validity and consistency • Time series • Authoritative interpretation • Action in response • Context of Public Service Reform approach and operating ‘Theory of Improvement’ Issues

  8. Example: Aim Drive from ‘Awful to Adequate’ Funding Large real terms increases Focus Corporate capacity and national standards Method Balanced scorecard Motivation External stimulus, naming and shaming, terror and targets Alternatives: self actuated improvement; consumer/user pressure; political accountability; etc Theories of change and improvement

  9. Example: PSR Approach and Theory of Improvement

  10. 200+ indicators for all frontline and corporate services • 287 pages of guidance • Set centrally after consultation • Operated by the Audit Commission • Superseded in 2006 by a more outcome focussed national indicator set Best Value PIs

  11. CPA – single and upper tier

  12. Joint inspectorate assessment for each area • Individual ‘use of resources’ judgements for councils, police, health, fire and rescue authorities • Local performance against the national indicator set • Risk assessment linked to local area agreements Comprehensive Area Assessment

  13. Aim Improvement from within Funding Getting tighter (£20,000 per review) Focus EFQM model with 12 criteria (incl. corporate effectiveness) Method Mixed review teams Motivation Support and ownership Peer review

  14. Risk regulatory regimes

  15. A marriage made in both heaven and hell? • Critical political accountability.... • ...problematic political time horizons and public opinion drivers • Great benchmarking requires tremendous political self-discipline Politics, Politicians, and Benchmarking

  16. Benchmarking is one arrow in the quiver, and not THE answer.... • ...it is best applied from the ‘improvement end of the telescope’... • ....in the context of a thought through policy of Public Service Reform and Improvement... • ...and (ideally) a fair degree of political consensus... • ...and the support of key stakeholders An arrow not a silver bullet

  17. Working out and carefully designing the benchmarking approach does not guarantee success... • ...but not doing so guarantees failure • Not ‘one benchmarking system fits all’.... • ....different services in different situations call for different benchmarking solutions Be systematic but do not impose one ‘system’

  18. clivegrace@hotmail.com 10th September 2012

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