TECHNICAL PRESENTATION
12. In presentational terms there remain a few minor
problems with the Department's report. For example:
- While a list of abbreviations
is helpfully provided, certain assumptions are made about the
technical understanding of the reader: for example, the phrase
'floor target' is only defined, in passing, on page 72 of the
report and is a term easily confused with references to 'floors'
or 'ceilings' in connection with the local government financial
settlement;
- A pie chart illustrating departmental expenditure
"on ODPM's seven PSA targets" fails to explain that
one PSA target is not shown because nothing has been spent on
it by ODPM;[9] and
- A table showing administration costs for the
Department's larger non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) mistakenly
lists figures as thousands, instead of millions, of pounds.[10]
We recommend that future reports contain a short
glossary of technical terms. The Department should take particular
care in proof-reading financial tables and charts.
13. There is a separate issue about the way in which
the Department chooses to present its progress in delivering its
outcomes. We detected a tendency to show progress in an unjustifiably
favourable light, most obviously in reporting efficiency gains
where programmes totalling £150,000 savings per year were
highlighted as "noticeable" progress towards a target
of £620 million by 2007-08.[11]
Similarly Mr Housden, on being asked what the ODPM's key weaknesses
were, told us that "it has been a hugely successful department
in every area of its work".[12]
It is early in the three-year-old Department's development to
present such an unqualified assessment.
14. We are pleased that this year's Annual Report
sets out both successes and problems in programme delivery so
that they can be understood. We criticise the Department for an
unjustifiably favourable presentation of its achievements, which
is counter-productive.
Aims, targets and the core narrative
15. We also note that readers of the report have
to grapple with the Department's aims, Strategic Priorities, and
Public Service Agreements which were set in 2002 and "updated
and added to" in 2004.[13]
The different levels of targets and their inter-relationships
can be difficult to understand.
16. The Department made available to us a document
called the "core narrative", which is the first outcome
of an internal review looking towards the Comprehensive Spending
Review in 2007.[14] The
core narrative aims to set out clearly what the work of the Department
is for. This lists:
- Three core values;
- Five key drivers; and
- Eleven key priorities (consisting of high-level
goals, critical projects and cross-government priorities).
17. Mr Miliband told us that the purpose of the core
narrative was to give "a focus to departmental activity";
specifically, he hoped that "when [the ODPM's staff] come
to work in the morning they are involved in a project that has
clear links to that overall goal" of a sustainable community.[15]
The recent staff survey (which is discussed in greater detail
in paragraphs 35-44 below) reported that only 59 per cent of ODPM
staff understood how their work contributed to ODPM's five-year
plans. This compares to a central government benchmark of 80 per
cent. While we hope staff will find the core narrative helpful,
we are unconvinced.
18. When we spoke to Mr Housden he told us that "clear,
consistent, simple messages are a very important lesson for all
of us engaged in government".[16]
We agree with Mr Housden that the Department should ensure
transparency and simplicity in its communications, both internally
and externally. We look forward to a clear demonstration of the
greater effectiveness of the Department's communications in its
next Annual Report.
5 ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the
Regions Committee, Fourth Report of Session 2004-05, ODPM Annual
Report and Accounts 2004, HC 58 paragraph 10 Back
6
Annex A: Work streams by strategic priority, ODPM, Annual Report
2005, Cm 6526, June 2005, pp59 - 115 Back
7
Ev 32 Back
8
QQ4-5 Back
9
Annual Report 2005 Cm 6526 p40. See also Ev 42 Back
10
Annual Report 2005 Cm 6526 p127. See also Ev 42 Back
11
Annual Report 2005 Cm 6526 p45 Back
12
HC 680 (2005-06), Q2 Back
13
Annual Report 2005 Cm 6526 p17 Back
14
QQ14-16 Back
15
Q131 Back
16
HC 680 (2005-06), Q1 Back
