Sir Michael Barber discusses delivering public value at a Strand Group event
Sir Michael Barber presented to an audience of 100 former civil servants, students, academics, and representatives from business at an exclusive event organised by The Strand Group, part of the Policy Institute at King’s College London.
Entitled ‘Delivering Public Value: The Role of the Treasury’, Sir Michael discussed government efficiency and historic reform reviews including Sir Derek Rayner’s reviews which Margaret Thatcher strongly supported, The Next Steps Agencies, and the Atkinson and Green reviews. He noted that while some of these had been successful, they had tended to be episodic and did not achieve long-lasting change.
Sir Michael went on to outline his Public Value Assessment Framework, part of the work carried out by Delivery Associates for the UK Treasury, published alongside the Government’s Budget in 2017. The report drew on previous successes from the last twenty years but with a renewed emphasis on delivering real outcomes, i.e. value, for taxpayers.
The presentation outlined the Framework and explained the relationship between funding and outcomes, and the importance of measurement and data in government.
In an interactive Q&A after the presentation, Sir Michael took a range of questions from the audience including how the Public Value Framework could be applied to wider organisations both inside and outside government.
Sir Michael Barber presented to an audience of 100 former civil servants, students, academics, and representatives from business at an exclusive event organised by The Strand Group, part of the Policy Institute at King’s College London.
Bloomberg Philanthropies have announced the last five American cities who have won a place in the American Cities Climate Challenge. The $70 million Bloomberg Philanthropies investment program was created to build on the work already being done by mayors across the U.S. and support cities in their plans to reduce carbon emissions.
The selected cities will enter into a two-year program to help them meet their carbon reduction goals. The 25 winning cities (in alphabetical order) are: Albuquerque, NM; Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Denver, CO; Honolulu, HI; Indianapolis, IN; Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; Saint Paul, MN; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO; St. Petersburg, FL and Washington, D.C.
Working alongside the Natural Resources Defence Council and other partners, Delivery Associates will be supporting the twenty-five cities on developing the tools, training, capability and tracking to implement innovative and results-based solutions to meet their carbon reduction goals.
Bloomberg Philanthropies have announced the last five American cities who have won a place in the American Cities Climate Challenge.
Sir Michael Barber writes about the three main forces impacting the key traits of 'liberal democracy’, and what needs to be done to stop the ’Shrinking Circle’.
Sir Michael Barber reflects on the need for resilience within government and how many leaders could learn from Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s ‘antifragile’ theory. In the face of a crisis, people and organisations can either fold, survive or thrive.
Reflecting on England’s performance at the recent World Cup, Sir Michael Barber writes about the parallels between success in sport and success in government. He writes that there are five key lessons that leaders can learn from Gareth Southgate which could help transform the way governments deliver worldwide.
Delivery Associates welcomed specialists from 5 different continents and many other participants for an insightful discussion on their recent publication, Success Delivered, which looks at the 6 key characteristics that are crucial for successful delivery in government.
Delivery Associates were joined by Glenn King, Head of the Premier’s Implementation Unit in New South Wales, Australia and Penny Tainton, Delivery Lead, eLearning and After School Game Changers, Western Cape, South Africa, who were sharing their own insights, learnings and experiences.
After a welcome from Delivery Associates Director Nick Rodriquez and an overview from founder Sir Michael Barber, Glenn opened the panel session by reinforcing that the “Deliverology® methodology has really worked for us in New South Wales in making a difference for our citizens.”
He stressed the importance of strong communication, collaboration, a relentless focus on citizens, constant engagement and a common language as key learnings from the NSW Premier’s Implementation Unit. Their approach and success has meant that the 12 key priorities have withstood the test of time and a key change in leadership.
For Penny in the Western Cape, a combination of collaborative target-setting and careful planning, committed leadership and regular stocktakes has enabled them to stay on track and achieve their goals.
Penny emphasised the importance of building relationships with everyone in every department and the need for on-going and regular dialogue. She stated that Deliverologists need to be honest and authentic to gain peoples’ trust, and that “success is all about influence, and influence is all about leveraging personal relationships.”
One participant posed a question on issues around data especially false reporting and how to prevent perverse incentives when focussing on set a priorities. Sir Michael, Glenn and Penny all agreed on the importance of fieldwork - to go and check what is happening for yourself rather than just relying on data and reports, but also they all emphasised the need to persistently audit data, and check it against other data sets.
Data was a theme that both Glenn and Penny continually returned to. As Nick Rodriguez summed up, “there is just no getting around the hard work!”
Delivery Associates welcomed specialists from 5 different continents and many other participants for an insightful discussion on their recent publication, Success Delivered, which looks at the 6 key characteristics that are crucial for successful delivery in government.
In partnership with UM Brasil, Sir Michael Barber discusses the implementation of efficient public policy and the importance of getting education right with David Boyd from the Lemann Foundation and Patrícia Tavares from Insper.
Sir Michael Barber writes about the 6 key lessons for successful delivery and uses case studies from all over the world to show that it is possible for governments to achieve what they set out to deliver for their citizens. When it comes down to it, it’s all in the detail.
Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the American Cities Climate Challenge, a new effort to support 20 cities that will lead America’s efforts to tackle climate change. The 20 cities will participate in a 2 year programme designed to significantly reduce carbon emissions and promote a sustainable future for their residents. Delivery Associates will partner with Bloomberg and the Natural Resources Defense Council to support these cities as they plan for impact and deliver on their ambitious goals to protect the planet.
The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Dr. the Hon. Hubert Minnis, has officially launched the country’s first Delivery Unit with the aim of using data to spur growth and improve the lives of all Bahamian people.
The official launch event of the Prime Minister Delivery Unit (PMDU) was attended by Cabinet Ministers and government officials as well as representatives from the Canadian Govt, the Inter-American Development Bank and Delivery Associates. With a special focus on data collection and analysis, the PMDU will initially focus on six key priority areas to advance reform and results.
In today’s world, it matters more than ever whether governments uphold their commitment to making a real difference to the lives of their citizens. Based on case studies from all over the world, Success Delivered looks into the 6 characteristics that enable a Delivery Unit to deliver success - leadership, numbers, people, culture, routine and reality. Although it is not easy to be a successful Delivery Unit, they are always grounded in a genuine moral purpose, and this can often be the key differentiator between success and failure.
Enrolment is open for individuals to sign up for the next Delivery Institute program which begins in Brazil in June 2018. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn about the principles of deliverology®, surround yourself with like-minded people who are also passionate about delivering results for citizens, and receive ongoing support from a personal coach as you implement what you’ve learnt.
The British Ambassador to Peru, Anwar Choudhury, has been awarded the Order of the Sun, the highest award in Peru to recognise notable civil and military merit. Ambassador Choudhury helped with initial support for Peru’s Delivery Unit, the Unidad de Cumplimiento de Gobierno (UCG), which President Kuczynski has referred to as the most significant contribution the British Government has made to his administration.
Read more about the good news from Pakistan - how regular stocktakes, intricate planning and a belief in routine has helped achieve real improvements in access to and quality of education.
