Building capacity for policy implementation Dr Anne Tiernan

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Building capacity for policy implementation

• Dr Anne Tiernan
• Centre for Governance and Public Policy

Presentation to ANZSOG Project Management and
Organisational Change Conference. Canberra, 22
February 2006
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Presentation overview

• This session
• Examines concerns about policy capacity,
  including about capacity to implement policy.
• Reviews recent government efforts to address the
  capacity problem, with a particular focus on
  Queensland.
• Raises some questions about the potential of
  these measures to address the problems of policy
  capacity exposed by recent delivery failures.

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The capacity problem

• Internationally, concern about declining policy
  capacity has been expressed by ministers, senior
  public servants and scholars.
• Seems to be a particular concern in Westminster
  systems.
• This discourse encompasses a variety of concerns
  about
• The research, analytical and advisory skills and
  abilities of the public service
• Its ability to recruit and retain people with
  requisite knowledge, skills and experience
• Relationships between officials and political
  executives
• The policy advising role of the public service in
  an increasingly pluralised and contestable
  environment.

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Concern about implementation

• Within the discourse of declining policy
  capacity, concerns have been expressed about
  implementation and delivery, specifically
• The ability and willingness of the public service
  to promptly deliver government commitments and
  priorities.
• Potential for policy intent to become distorted
  or diffused during implementation.
• The line of sight between policy formulation
  and implementation
• Ability to mobilise and coordinate around
  whole-of-government issues and priorities.
• Recognition of potential political
  costs/consequences.

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Why might capacity have declined?

• Impact of New Public Management (NPM) reforms
• Changing environment and expectations
• Pace, complexity
• Scrutiny
• Declining trust
• Significant restructuring of the public sector
  workforce.

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Measures to address the capacity problem

• Establishment of Implementation Units in
  Commonwealth and Queensland, more recently in
  Victoria.
• Closer monitoring of commitments and priorities
  by central units
• Procedural changes to focus on implementation
  planning (e.g. in Cabinet processes)
• Dedicated agency-based implementation units.
• Awareness and consciousness-raising initiatives
• Speeches, conferences, presentation etc.
• Varying degrees of visibility.
• Other efforts to professionalise policy-making.

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Recent failures have reinforced concerns about
implementation capacity

• Palmer report into Department of Immigration.
• In Queensland, a litany of delivery problems
• Child protection
• Electricity supply
• Roads
• Public hospital system.
• Have tended to occur in established service
  delivery systems rather than in new policy areas.
• Exposed deficiencies in evaluation and
  performance management.

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Governments have responded by

• Establishing independent inquiries into the
  problems that have occurred useful blueprints
  for reform and change.
• Wholesale changes to affected departments
• Often deploying central agency people to senior
  leadership roles.
• Restructuring, reorganisation etc, including
  agency-based implementation units to drive
  reform.
• Major funding commitments.
• Strong central oversight and monitoring.

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Independent inquiries have highlighted

• A serious disconnect between policy and service
  delivery
• Failure on part of central agency and head office
  officials to appreciate and address systemic
  problems of under-funding, workload issues,
  recruitment and retention of suitably qualified
  staff etc
• Loss of skills, corporate memory, inadequate time
  and effort for consultation with service
  providers (esp. non-government).
• A major expectation gap between what
  politicians and the public expect and a service
  systems capacity to deliver
• Difficulties in ensuring operational realities
  are reflected in policy advice and decisions.

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Renewed focus on implementation

• Has been strongly centrally driven from PMC
  and Premiers departments.
• Though influenced by transfer of ideas from
  elsewhere, has been adapted and invented in
  local contexts
• Apparent lack of engagement with literature on
  policy implementation.
• A lost opportunity because there is much to be
  learned.
• Predominance of a top-down view of
  implementation, esp. in problem areas
• Unclear whether the objective is a political
  fix or substantive system change.
• Dilemmas of policy development and implementation
  when problem definition is being driven
  politically.

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Prospects for solving the capacity problem

• There is growing awareness of and focus on
  implementation planning in new policy
  development
• Implementation plans
• Monitoring and oversight regimes reports etc.
• Agency-based implementation units as in DIMA,
  Queensland Health, Child Safety department and
  whole of government initiatives.
• Evidence that progress is being made Ministers,
  senior leaders showing greater interest in
  reports plans etc.

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Prospects

• Potential for central units to play leadership
  roles in
• Promoting and raising awareness of implementation
  at the front-end - during policy development
  and design.
• Supporting implementation planning through
  outreach activities - by building capacity
  instead of parachuting it in.
• Important symbolic and confidence issues for
  organisations.
• Develop better understanding of implementation
  issues and challenges through dialogue with
  front-line service providers
• Deep content knowledge and understanding
  important to map how this might have changed over
  time.
• Assist in communicating complexities and
  realities to decision-makers.

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For agencies

• Must engage in more dialogue with policy-makers,
  both internally (policy/operations), and with
  central agencies.
• Learn to use advisory and Cabinet processes more
  assertively.
• Foster culture and behaviour change by measures
  to build bridges between policy and delivery
• Clarity of intent
• Other ideas/initiatives that have been discussed
  over past few days.