Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) 2007 performance management framework

In 1998 the Government introduced PSAs, which set government-wide goals for service improvements. PSA targets identify what departments plan to deliver in return for the resources allocated by HM Treasury.

2007/08 was the final year of the Government’s 2004 Spending Review (SR04) period. In this Departmental Report we have given a final assessment of progress towards meeting our nine SR04 PSA targets. The FCO’s delivery against the PSA sub-targets and performance indicators is set out in detail in Part 3 of this report.

For CSR07 HM Treasury wanted to streamline the number of PSAs across Government, focusing on the highest priority outcomes. This has resulted in a reduced set of around 30 PSAs, reduced from over 100 during SR04. A further key innovation is that the new PSAs will be specifically ‘cross-government’ targets. Each PSA has a ‘lead’ department, which is responsible for driving and co-ordinating delivery, with a number of departments named as ‘delivery partners’.

The FCO leads on:

PSA 30: Reduce the impact of conflict through enhanced UK and international efforts.

We are a delivery partner for four other PSAs:

PSA 3: Ensure controlled, fair migration that protects the public and contributes to economic growth.

PSA 26: Reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from international terrorism.

PSA 27: Lead the global effort to avoid dangerous climate change.

PSA 29: Reduce poverty in poorer countries through quicker progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

The FCO will also help with the international delivery of a number of other PSAs through the support and assistance provided by our network of posts.

The FCO’s contribution to this reduced set of PSAs is only one small part of our overall work. Our key overall goals are set out in our new strategic framework, which highlights our global network, essential services, and policy goal objectives.

We have agreed with the Treasury that these goals will form our departmental strategic objectives (DSOs) for CSR07. Our PSA targets are included within these broader DSOs. For example, our lead role on the conflict PSA (PSA 30) falls within our ‘prevent and resolve conflict’ policy goal.

As part of our 2008/09 business planning round, each of our DSO owners (generally FCO policy or service directors) produced a ‘DSO plan’ to identify the key outputs that they expect to deliver during the next three years.

Each of these outputs is in turn supported by a series of achievable outcomes, and by delivering these outcomes we will be able to measure our performance during the reporting period. Where relevant, the targets that we are committed to deliver for individual PSAs are included within the DSO plans.

We then commissioned country business plans (CBPs) from our network of posts around the world. Each CBP highlights the key objectives for the FCO and our partners across Government in that particular country, and identifies the outcomes we can deliver, so that we can measure our performance, identify our successes, and learn from our mistakes.

The FCO Board will carry out reviews every six months to hold DSO owners and geographic directors to account for performance against their business plans. This will make it possible for the Board to assess our overall progress, and to consider what changes we need to make to successfully deliver our DSOs.