Open Letter from Nick Sloan, Director, Performance Measurement, NAO

Never has performance measurement been more relevant and more critical. The 2012 NAO Performance Measurement Conference will be held at a time when the full impact of the first round of spending cuts will have been felt. Now all departments, agencies, NDPBs and local authorities will be working hard to deliver the Government’s aim of deficit reduction, while maintaining service quality.

As they do so, they are also tasked with implementing greater commitments to data transparency and to localism, to support accountability. All of this comes, of course, at a time when many central government targets have been removed, which itself throws up new challenges and opportunities.

The conference programme will draw together experts from the National Audit Office, central and local government, academia and industry to consider these issues:

• What the Open Public Service reforms will mean for performance measurement
• The use and misuse of analysis in government
• How transparency and open data supports service improvement
• Information for management accountability
• Accountability through localism
• What opportunities and challenges have emerged from the absence of central targets
• Information supporting structured cost reduction in central government
• Lessons from sector-led performance measurement in local government

I very much hope that you will be able to join us for this conference, and that you will circulate this invitation to relevant colleagues in your organisation who may wish to attend. The conference will provide a unique opportunity to hear from leading authorities on the subject and to network with your peer groups in central and local government.

Speakers
Clive Barton, Group Corporate Affairs Director, Serco plc and Member, CBI Public Services Strategy Board
Ross Campbell, Director, National Audit Office
Andrew Dilnot, Principal, St Hugh’s College, Oxford and Chair of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support
Tom Gash, Fellow of the Institute for Government
Dame Helen Ghosh, Permanent Secretary, Home Office
Shehla Husain, Deputy Director, Transparency and Accountability, Department for Communities and Local Government
Tim Kelsey, Executive Director for Transparency & Open Data, Efficiency & Reform Group, Cabinet Office
Ben Lucas, Director, 2020 Public Services Trust
Sir Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury
Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General, National Audit Office
Cllr Jill Shortland OBE, Vice-Chair of the Improvement Board, Local Government Association
Nick Sloan, Director, Performance Measurement, National Audit Office
Colin R. Talbot, Professor of Government and Public Administration, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
Michael Whitehouse, Chief Operating Officer, National Audit Office

08:30 Coffee & registration

09:10 Chairman’s opening remarks
Michael Whitehouse, Chief Operating Officer, NAO

09:20 Keynote address
Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General, NAO

09:40 Open Public Services: what the reforms mean for performance measurement
Sir Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury

10:10 The use and misuse of analysis in government
Andrew Dilnot, Principal, St Hugh’s College, Oxford; and Chair of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support

10:40 Morning coffee

11:05 Transparency and open data supporting service improvement
Tim Kelsey, Executive Director for Transparency & Open Data, Efficiency & Reform Group, Home Office

11:35 Information for management accountability
Nick Sloan, Director, NAO

12:00 Sector-led performance measurement in local government
Cllr Jill Shortland OBE, Vice-Chair of the Improvement Board, Local Governmnet Association

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Accountability through localism
Dame Helen Ghosh, Permanent Secretary, Home Office

14:00 Panel discussion: What opportunities and challenges have emerged from the absence of central government targets?
Moderator: Ben Lucas, Director, 2020 Public Services Trust
Panellists:
Tom Gash, Fellow of the Institute for Government
Shehla Husain, Deputy Director, Transparency and Accountability, Department for Communities and Local Government
Colin R. Talbot, Professor of Government and Public Administration, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester

14:45 Afternoon tea

15:00 Information supporting structured cost reduction in central government
Ross Campbell, Director, NAO

15:30 Measurement to drive performance: a businss view from public service delivery 
Clive Barton, Group Corporate Affairs Director, Serco plc and Member, CBI Public Services Strategy Board

16:00 Close of conference

ICO (International Coffee Organisation) Conference Centre
22 Berners Street
London W1T 3DD
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7706 7700
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7481 4669

Website

Map & Directions

Speakers
Clive Barton, Group Corporate Affairs Director, Serco plc and Member, CBI Public Services Strategy Board
Ross Campbell, Director, National Audit Office
Andrew Dilnot, Principal, St Hugh’s College, Oxford and Chair of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support
Tom Gash, Fellow of the Institute for Government
Dame Helen Ghosh, Permanent Secretary, Home Office
Shehla Husain, Deputy Director, Transparency and Accountability, Department for Communities and Local Government
Tim Kelsey, Executive Director for Transparency and Open Data, Efficiency and Reform Group                                                                                 

Ben Lucas, Director, 2020 Public Services Trust
Sir Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury
Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General, National Audit Office
Cllr Jill Shortland OBE, Vice-Chair of the Improvement Board, Local Government Association

Nick Sloan, Director, Performance Measurement, National Audit Office
Colin R. Talbot, Professor of Government and Public Administration, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
Michael Whitehouse, Chief Operating Officer, National Audit Office