Open AccessBetter Public Services: the case for monitoring and evaluation
Author(s) -
Jacqueline Cumming,
Sharleen Forbes
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
policy quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2324-1101
pISSN - 2324-1098
DOI - 10.26686/pq.v8i3.4425
Subject(s) - key (lock) , government (linguistics) , work (physics) , process management , business , monitoring and evaluation , risk analysis (engineering) , public relations , computer science , computer security , political science , engineering , economic growth , economics , mechanical engineering , philosophy , linguistics
The recent release of ten result areas with associated performance indicators as a way of focusing and enhancing government services means that at some point in the future it will be necessary to check whether or not those results are being or have been achieved. It is timely, therefore, to review whether and how New Zealand government agencies monitor progress towards desired outcomes and evaluate key policies and programmes. In this article we consider the important role of monitoring and evaluation in achieving ‘better public services’, and how New Zealand needs to do better if we are to be sure we are achieving key outcomes and learning about what does and does not work to achieve these outcomes.