Better Quality Services

Frequently asked Questions

1. What is Better Quality Services?

Better Quality Services is the Government’s approach to ensuring that all services provided by central government are regularly reviewed. The aim is to make sure that we always deliver the best value to the taxpayer, and that we constantly seek to find the best supplier for each service or function in question. Better Quality Services will be a rolling programme, seeking continuous improvement in the cost and quality of public services.

2. How does it work?

Under Better Quality Services, all central government services will be assessed against 5 strategic options:

	Abolition
	Privatisation
	Strategic contracting out
	Market testing
	Internal restructuring

Departments have drawn up plans for reviewing all of their services in this way over the next 5 years, and have been given a target of reviewing 60% of their business in the first 3 years.

3. Isn’t Better Quality Services just market testing and Competing for Quality (CFQ) re-packaged?

No. It is the successor to previous policies of this kind, and covers some of the same issues. But there are significant differences in the way that it will be applied. In particular:

No prior view is taken about what the best supply arrangements will be. Both in-house and external options will be considered on an equal footing.

Better Quality Services includes revised guidance and approaches to market testing and to TUPE – both issues that have been problematic in the past.

Better Quality Services will be managed and centrally monitored with a much lighter-touch. Generally, the emphasis will be on supporting the delivery of departmental Better Quality Services plans, not second-guessing the judgement of local managers.

Reporting requirements to the centre will be kept to a sensible minimum.

4. Does Better Quality Services apply to Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs)/Non-Ministerial Departments (NMDs)?

Yes.

5. What guidance is available to departments?

There are two publications available from the Cabinet Office on Better Quality Services. One is a comprehensive handbook for managers directly involved in a Better Quality Services review. The other is a shorter, more strategic guide for senior managers.

6. Are policy and/or headquarters functions included in the programme of reviews?

We do not intend that particular services should be reviewed twice in any period. Essentially, therefore, quinquennial reviews for Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) count as activities contributing towards a department’s Better Quality Services plan.

Clearly, there will be a need to co-ordinate the Better Quality Services plan with existing plans for quinquennial reviews. We will provide detailed advice to Better Quality Services managers on a case by case basis on the best way that this can be done.

7. Are policy and/or headquarters functions included in the programme of reviews?

Yes. Better Quality Services covers the whole of central government activity and therefore goes further than some previous initiatives.

8. How can you review policy functions?

Like any other function in government policy priorities change over time – so the core Better Quality Services questions "do we still need to do this?" and "do we need to achieve our aims through these means?" are relevant even to policy areas

Even though the principles remain exactly the same as for any other service, there are obvious differences in practice:

Policy functions are less likely to lend themselves to wholesale outsourcing. However, external advice and the supply of information will need to be considered carefully.

Defining service standards and the output of an organisation are both more difficult in these circumstances and will require careful thought.

9. What are the monitoring and reporting arrangements for Better Quality Services?

We have kept these to a minimum and we will not be requiring a separate report on Better Quality Services from the Public Service Agreements (PSAs) now being put in place.

As part of PSA returns we will want to know:

Whether Better Quality Services reviews are being carried out according to the initial plan;

Whether the costs of reviewed services are subsequently found to be in line with expectations; and

Whether the quality of services delivered also match initial expectations.

As a result of experience gained over time, we will be using this information to inform an evaluation of the effectiveness of Better Quality Services.

10. How can you evaluate the effectiveness of Better Quality Services?

We are planning an evaluation of the effectiveness of Better Quality Services after 3-4 years. The basic questions the evaluation will need to ask are those concerned with the cost and quality of government services provided, and whether Better Quality Services has helped to make significant gains over past practice in both cases.

11. Any plans to audit Better Quality Services?

Separate to the evaluation exercise, we will audit the progress of Better Quality Services after 2 years.

There is no prior agenda for auditing any particular service or kind of service. We will want to take a view on a cluster of Better Quality Services reviews that cover a representative sample. They will therefore be chosen from a variety of departments and will cover a variety of different kinds of service. The final sample will be determining in consultation with departments.

We will not be auditing Better Quality Services reviews that have been wholly delivered through the quinquennial review process, since the latter already include an element of quality control.

12. What is the relationship between Better Quality Services and Best Value?

Better Quality Services and Best Value are very similar in principle, and simply apply to the central and local government environments respectively. In both cases, managers will be required to think deeply about the cost and quality of services, and the configuration of service delivery (including the question of finding the best supplier).

13. What is the position on TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings)?

Cabinet Office has just published the Statement of Practice for Staff Transfers in the Public Sector following a consultation exercise launch in July of last year. This sets out the policy for the application of TUPE and the protection of pension rights for transfer involving the public sector and has been drawn up in consultation with unions, employers and contractors.

TUPE will apply in transfers involving the public sector unless in a particular case there are genuinely exceptional circumstances. TUPE will apply to contracting-out, subsequent retendering and sub-contracting. Broadly comparable pensions will always be required, including on retendering and sub-contracting.

This reaffirms our commitment in the Modernising Government White Paper that we would support staff by presuming TUPE protections apply wherever there is a change of service provider.

14. What role do Cabinet Office and Treasury Play?

Both Cabinet Office and Treasury will be concerned to provide support, through appropriate advice and guidance, to Better Quality Services managers and senior management teams. However, we will not be seeking to become involved in the detail of the 500 Better Quality Services reviews that are expected (refer to question on monitoring and reporting arrangements).

Central Departments will also be responsible for designing and centrally managing the audit and evaluation exercises, and for supporting the Better Quality Services review panel.

15. How will quality improvements be measured?

There is no general answer to this question. Quality measures will be service specific and we look to departments to think carefully about how quality manifests itself in the context of particular Better Quality Services reviews. For this reason, we will not be asking departments to report against detailed quality measures, or some putative generic measure. Rather, we will seek to understand whether quality of service is improving in line with expectations.

16. Does using the EFQM Excellence Model (or some other quality scheme) count as a review?

No. The EFQM Excellence Model is a market leading management approach, and we commend it to all departments as a good framework for managing continuous improvement. But no management tool will deliver Better Quality Services itself.

However, approaches like the Excellence Model or Charter Mark can play a significant role in helping to deliver Better Quality Services by helping to diagnose the strength/weakness of current arrangements.

17. What if a service is already reviewed annually, or more frequently than the 5 year Better Quality Services period?

In such cases, we would generally expect these regular reviews to form a natural component of departmental Better Quality Services plans and separate reviews will not be necessary. However, it will be important that these reviews do cover the key points of Better Quality Services. If not, they should either be amended or replaced with a new review process in line with the requirements of Better Quality Services.

18. What about contracts that lasts more than five years?

The principle of Better Quality Services reviews can and should be applied to a long-term contract since all contracts should have their own regular, rolling review arrangements. If a supplier is not delivering the best value then they may not be the best supplier and the contract management process should cover all the important features of Better Quality Services. Long-term contracts are not, therefore, exceptions to Better Quality Services.

19. What if Ministers have already decided on the way ahead for a particular service?

All Better Quality Services reviews must consider the five strategic options for the provision of services.

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