3 Presentation
of the Annual Report
17. While there has been some attempt to create a
coherent and consistent document in the Annual Report 2003, the
result is still not comprehensive, and the reporting is inconsistent.
The core content is divided up into three chapters that relate
to ODPM's objectives, which are divided into functional sections.
Some headings in these sections are included throughout the report,
but the type of information included in each varies and some include
additional headings at the same 'level'. The use of tables and
charts appears arbitrary. There are none on housing and planning,
where they could be helpful. Others like figure 3.1 on local government
quality add nothing. The local government sections in Chapter 2
'Effective decision making' are confusing; some cover different
aspects of local government, while others relate to the subject
in general. The section on the Fire Service is set out differently
to the rest of the report. It contains target performance data
that duplicates much of the progress report in Annex D, and in
some cases exceeds it. This inconsistency makes it difficult to
find specific pieces of information in the Annual Report. Information
in the 2004 Annual Report should be included under a series of
headings that are comprehensive and are used consistently for
each section.
18. The
financial information in the Annual Report does not compare spending
with targets and objectives. There are no tables in the main body
of the report that show how the ODPM's total funding is spent.
Such tables are only contained in Annex A. These may meet minimum
Treasury standard but nothing is done to help readers to link
the Department's activities and achievements with the associated
funding. Some but not all the sections include details of spending
on specific plans. The time periods covered are inconsistent.
Only the section on the fire service includes a table of resources
by target. Next year's Annual
Report should contain a table of spending by objective and PSA
target over the period of the spending review. Individual chapters
should contain consistently presented tables that give more detailed
information on spending.
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