International developments
Promoting and supporting a more whole of government approach has been a common focus and priority of public administration in a range of countries, as well as of international bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Common drivers and policy challenges have fuelled interest and action in this area. Recently, Westminster countries appear to be increasing their focus on using whole of government approaches to improve their service delivery. Nevertheless, countries continue to differ in the approach taken to drive a greater whole of government orientation, consistent with different government philosophies and approaches to public sector management.
The UK approach to whole of government work (called ‘joined up government’) was inaugurated in the Blair Labour Government’s Modernising Government initiative (1999). This was refined and strengthened by a ‘cross-cutting’ focus set out in the Cabinet Office’s landmark report Wiring it Up.2 That report analysed ways of improving ‘crosscutting’ policies and services through: stronger leadership from Ministers and senior civil servants; better policy formulation and implementation; enhancing public servants’ skills and capacities; more flexible use of budgets; better audit and external scrutiny; and greater utilisation of the Centre (No. 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury).
More recently, the Gershon report3 identified a widespread tendency for public bodies in the UK to prefer a policy of self-sufficiency in providing their own frontline services and performing their ‘back office’ functions. This was found to have resulted in much unproductive duplication in behind the scenes administration as well as inefficient frontline service delivery. The Government’s response was to require increased collaboration between public sector bodies in performing their back office ‘transactional services’ and greater coordination of procurement functions in order to improve systems and service provision.
The chief Canadian whole of government focus is also on service delivery, though their emphasis is on building and maintaining a multi-channel, cross-jurisdictional service delivery environment. The principal vehicle for this is Government On-line (GOL), an initiative launched in 1999 with the ultimate aim of making available online the 130 most commonly used Canadian federal government services. By 2004–05, online services accounted for 30% of all government transactions. GOL involves partnering across jurisdictions to enable clients to access complementary services from provincial and territorial governments.4 Canada has also worked closely with the US toward developing a new collaborative approach to e-governance and the performance of shared back office functions.
New Zealand’s highly developed whole of government initiatives were laid out in the 2005 Development Goals for the State Services. Goals (to be met between 2007 and 2010) include using technology to transform the provision of services to New Zealanders, ensuring the total contribution of government agencies is greater than the sum of its parts, and ensuring government agencies work together to coordinate the availability of services across the country using co-location, joint services and management of different physical and electronic channels.
Whole of government initiatives for the APS in governance, ICT infrastructure and support for budget and financial accountability during 2004–05, are considered below. This is followed by an examination of relevant developments in agency culture and capability. Use of e-government in the delivery of Commonwealth services and more detailed analysis of developments around consultation in service delivery are addressed in Chapter 4.
2 UK Cabinet Office, Wiring it Up: Whitehall’s Management of Cross-Cutting Policies and Services, January 2000, <http://www.strategy.gov.uk>
3 Sir Peter Gershon, Releasing Resources to the Front Line—Independent Review of Public Sector Efficiency, July 2004, <http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk>
4 Treasury Board of Canada, Canada Country Report, September 2004, <http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca>
