Performance Measurement in British Central Government

Authors: Abdullah Nur Anisah, Belton Valerie, Wisniewski Mik

Management Science Working Paper No. 9 (2006)

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Abstract

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This paper reports on a survey that forms part of a wider research project to understand performance measurement practices in UK central government Executive Agencies (EAs) and Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies (ENDPBs). The 230 EAs and ENDPBs, together with the National Health Service (NHS) and Local Authorities (LAs), are the organisations which deliver services according to government department policies, thus performance measurement should play an important role in their operations and management. However, in comparison with the NHS and LAs, there has been little published on performance measurement practices in these EAs and ENDPBs. The survey, which utilised a 6-page questionnaire, was distributed to all 230 organisations and a 40% response rate was achieved. We will report on the key findings of the survey including the types of performance measurement approach in use, the perceived effectiveness of these approaches, the purposes of performance measurement and the main factors influencing the design of the performance measurement approach adopted. We will also discuss how these findings have influenced and supported the second stage of the research, which is further in-depth qualitative research to explore critical success factors for design, implementation and use of performance measurement systems in this context.