Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

Putting Plans into Action – Resource Allocation and ReallocationThe ACT Budget papers, like all Australian jurisdictions, set out financial and otherinformation about planned performance to both support the Legislative Assembly for theACT’s (the Assembly) consideration of the annual appropriation bills, as well as to informthe citizenry of the Government’s plans for the coming year. This information on plannedperformance is subsequently reported upon in agencies’ annual reports and is available forpublic scrutiny, as well as to the Auditor-General.The ACTPS has made significant progress towards better incorporation of evaluation ofprograms and initiatives and of performance information into the Budget Committee ofCabinet’s decision making processes and these efforts should be continued and enhanced.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development notes in this context that:information about public sector performance can satisfy the public’s need to know,and can be used to show that governments provide good value for money throughtheir actions. Perhaps most important, performance information has the potential tohelp policy makers to make better budget and management decisions. 270The introduction of performance budgeting in countries around the world has been linked toefforts to improve the efficiency of public sector operations and to an increasing emphasis onmanaging for results. Indeed, it is in the focus on planning for and delivering results withingovernment, and greater transparency for results outside government, that the greatestbenefits of this model are seen. 271 The OECD notes that:The widespread introduction of performance information into budgeting andmanagement processes … if successfully implemented, can provide more informationon government goals and priorities, on how programmes fit in with these goals, and272on actual progress and results in achieving the goals.More public and meaningful performance information will also assist in moving debates:beyond subjective and biased evaluation of programmes, self serving assessment ofinterest groups, and value judgments based on anecdotal evidence and scandals, andtowards the use of more objective criteria from which to make rational decisionsabout policies and programmes and the allocation of resources. 273It will also assist in aligning effort and achievement: an analysis of State Governments in theUSA, for example, demonstrates the best performing public services and governments:tend to promote goal setting and the use of performance information throughoutgovernment at both the statewide and agency levels … Missouri, for example,introduced statewide goals – “Show Me Results” – because agencies needed more270 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2007) Performance Budgeting in OECD Countries. Paris, p.3.271 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2007) pp.11-12.272 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2007) p.59.273 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2007)p.60.Strategy, Resource Allocation and the Vacant Middle Ground: 223