Evaluation in Government Policy-making

Lord Kempsell Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2024 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Kempsell]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the use of evaluation in government policy-making.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Twycross) (Lab)]

My Lords, I recognise the work of the noble Lord, Lord Kempsell, in establishing the Evaluation Task Force, which is playing an important role in improving the use of evaluation across government. I also congratulate him on his new job. The Evaluation Task Force works with departments to ensure that evaluations of programmes are carried out and published. It also assesses the quality of evidence in business cases which inform public spending decisions. This Government remain committed to evidence-based policy-making and are using this to reform and improve our public services and enhance the value for money they deliver.

[Lord Kempsell (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her gracious reply. Vast amounts of public money are spent every day, but far too little attention is given to assessing whether those spending decisions actually achieve their desired outcome through good evaluation. In the wake of the Budget, which announced some of the highest levels of public spending in this country’s history, how do the Government intend to ensure that every pound of taxpayers’ money is not just well spent but that that spending is well evaluated?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The Autumn Budget announced a new public sector reform and innovation fund, which will support the development of new approaches to improving public services. This will deploy £100 million over the next three years to deliver innovative public service reforms in partnership with mayors and local leaders. The project’s primary focus is on experimentation and learning and will complement ongoing reform programmes and activities delivered by departments. Of course, evaluation—good evaluation—will continue to be key.