This report follows our March 2000 report on "Good Practice in Performance Reporting by Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies". It extends our coverage of performance measurement issues to Departments by taking an interim look at the progress they are making in measuring their performance, and in particular their outcomes. We surveyed the 17 main Departments and interviewed those involved in a number of cross-cutting areas to identify the challenges they face together with some of the solutions they have adopted. The report covers the selection and design of performance measures; the links between Public Service Agreements and targets for service providers; and the identification of appropriate sources of data to support measures and the reporting of outturn against target. This summary outlines the main good practices we identified and is supported by a list of key questions that Departments may wish to consider when they develop and implement their Public Service Agreement targets (see Annex 1, page 10).
