What Works policy advice centres unveiled by ministers
Author: Patrick Wintour, the Guardian |
Centres of expertise designed as resource for national and local policymakers to measure impact of government initiatives
Four new independent but government-funded centres of policy advice covering local economic growth, ageing, early intervention and crime reduction are being launched by the government.
The What Works centres are modelled on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Expertise, the centre for expertise in health.
The four new centres of expertise will be a resource for both national and local government. The intention is not to be a thinktank, but a resource endorsing and measuring policy as empirically as possible.
The idea was first proposed by Sir Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, and was adopted in the civil service action plan.
Ministers from successive governments admit to a paucity of reliable information on the impact of government initiatives, and the four centres are designed to fill the gap in what civil servants describe as evidence-based policymaking.
The initiative is being launched on Monday by the Treasury secretary, Danny Alexander, and the minister for government policy, Oliver Letwin.
Opponents of the project will reject the centres arguing that it is a mirage to think that essentially political choices can be judged in the same way as the efficiency of a drug.
But government says these independent specialist centres will produce and disseminate research to local decision-makers, supporting them in investing in services that deliver the best outcomes for citizens and value for money for taxpayers. The centres will also feed insights into the heart of government to inform national decision-making.
The Cabinet Office says it is the first time a government anywhere has set up such a model at a national level.
Much of the funding will come from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Big Lottery Fund.
Letwin said: “The What Works network will support commissioners and decision-makers at every level of government ? from head teachers and local police chiefs, to ministers and civil servants. A decade from now, we will wonder how we ever did without it.”
The network will be joined by the education endowment fund, which has completed highly praised research into the most effective way to improve poorer children school outcomes.
Each centre will have a sector-specific focus, and being part of a network will ensure they work together, sharing best practice and drawing on the experiences of local and international partners.
The centres will rank interventions on the basis of effectiveness, show where the interventions are applicable, their relative cost and the strength of evidence on an agreed scale.