Value For Money Missing In Many Govt Programmes
December 11th, 2008
One of the most startling statements in briefings to Ministers came in Treasury’s revelation the public sector “is struggling to provide assurances on performance and value for money.” For several years private sector lobby groups have questioned whether the Govt was getting value for money in many new spending programmes. The confirmation from the Govt’s main financial adviser comes as John Key is telling public service chiefs they have to do more with less.
Treasury is in effect saying a fair bit of the increase in Govt spending in recent years has been wasted. It notes measures to improve public service performance have been put in place “but do not yet appear to be delivering the outcomes sought.” It is a challenge to link much of the increased funding to specific goals or gains. A cost-plus approach appears to have been taken by agencies when proposing or discussing the provision of new services.
In addition, some agencies have had significant personnel growth which does not appear to be warranted by the size or significance of the policy or the services to which it is linked’. Unfortunately Treasury does not identify these agencies. Taxpayers will expect new Ministers to call in Treasury officials and demand clear answers on how these agencies can provide value-for-money.
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Duncan Cotterill