6 Conclusion
84. The Department has achieved a certain measure
of success during 2002-03. Notable achievements included: free
entry to national museums and galleries; the Communications Act
2003; internet access in public libraries; and increased numbers
of people experiencing the arts. We believe that there are areas
where performance has not met the need, for example the tourism
sector and sporting activity by under-16 year olds. We note that
both these areas are the subject of Public Service Agreement targets
for 2003-06.
85. However, we remain to be convinced that PSA targets
are a completely effective tool for measurement of departmental
performance—in practice—given the drifts and shifts
in priorities, baselines, and statistical presentation. In the
case of the DCMS, the process seems bedevilled by the enormous
breadth of the policy areas in which the Department has an interest,
which seems to be in inverse proportion to the depth of its responsibilities
in any one field and its capacity to intervene effectively; whether
the Tate, Tote, Wembley or Wimbledon. The Secretary of State conceded
that Public Service Agreements created in 1997 may have been crude
measures but she said that there had been an evolution and improvement
of targets so that they reflected priorities better and could
drive the Department's progress.[73]
86. It seems odd, therefore, that the DCMS' key delivery
targets for a period that spans, inter alia, such significant
events as: winning—or losing—of the 2012 Olympics,
BBC Charter renewal, fundamental reform of the National Lottery
(a source of funds greater than the Department's own budget) and
significant overhaul of arrangements for conservation and protection
of heritage, do not refer to any of these important matters.
87. We have highlighted a number of specific concerns
about the role of PSA targets and the need for them to be set
appropriately in order actually to stimulate performance. We have
also expressed concern about the fact that large areas of the
Department's remit that are not covered by PSA targets and we
hope that DCMS will not focus on PSA-targeted areas to the detriment
of other fields. We accept that well-set PSA targets can bring
about the 'turbo-charge' to specific initiatives that the Secretary
of State referred to in evidence. However, we would encourage
DCMS to use the PSA as a tool to improve performance across the
board rather than an absolute measure of success.
88. The Permanent Secretary reported a dip in DCMS
staff morale caused by outside perceptions of the Department's
quality of work in the past. We believe that a genuine process
of constructively critical reporting and self-analysis, leading
to real improvements, would do more to boost morale within the
Department than any amount of the encouragement, motivation and
valuing of contributions to which the Permanent Secretary referred
in evidence.
73 Q 28 Back
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