Getting better value from public sector research ... - CentreForum

Getting better value from Public Sector Research Establishments
:
:
:
:
:
High overheads – Too many layers of administration,
generous pension contributions, and high redundancy
costs all drive up overheads.
Policy constraints – Government policy often restricts
public sector operations, for instance by requiring
independence from the supply chain.
Accounting rules – Government accounting rules
can reduce incentives for third party revenues, impose
annuality and restrict flexibility between operating and
capital budgets.
Lack of access to capital – It can be difficult for public
sector organisations to gain the capital funding they need
quickly given Treasury rules and cumbersome decision
making processes.
Access to industry best practices – Government
owned and operated bodies do not have the same easy
access to the latest industry best practices and expertise
which the best contractors or private sector organisations
have. This can make or break projects such as delivering
a capital asset on time and to budget.
The constraints listed above apply to the different types of
organisation to a greater or lesser extent as summarised in
Table 2.
Strategic clarity
Clarity about what the government needs from PSREs is
key to getting the best performance from them, but has not
always been present.
Where the government’s strategy or its implementation
is confused or too narrowly drawn performance has been
impaired – for instance at FSS where government did not
follow through and implement the agreed strategy to move
swiftly to full privatisation.
In other cases, the importance of high quality, impartial
scientific/technical advice may not have been sufficiently
recognised. For example, the National Nuclear Laboratory
(NNL) is now required to compete for most of its work in the
14