Provoking debate and learning lessons: it is early days, but what does the Performance Improvement Framework challenge us to think about?

Governed, designed and funded by the three central agencies, but delivered by the State Services Commission, the Performance Improvement Framework (PIF) is now three years old. Twenty-one reviews have been published. Four are currently under way, including the first PIF re-review. Three agencies have completed follow-up reviews. In addition, over 250 state servants have attended a PIF self-review workshop. Also, several new products and services are in development, including a PIF cluster model. Finally, the PIF agency model is in the middle of a two-stage upgrade, that reflects the ambition and new performance expectations at the heart of the advice of the Better Public Services Advisory Group (Better Public Services Advisory Group, 2011).