Analysing performance assessment in public services : how useful is the concept of a performance regime?

The article draws on research funded by the ESRC Public Services Programme award number 166-25-0034 and an ESRC Knowledge Exchange Opportunity grant award number ES/J010707/1.Approaches to performance assessment have been described as ‘performance regimes’, but there has been little analysis of what is meant by this concept and whether it has any real value. We draw on four perspectives on regimes – ‘institutions and instruments’, ‘risk regulation regimes’, ‘internal logics and effects’ and ‘analytics of government’ – to explore how the concept of a multi-dimensional regime can be applied to performance assessment in public services. We conclude that the concept is valuable. It helps to frame comparative and longitudinal analyses of approaches to performance assessment and draws attention to the ways in which public service performance regimes operate at different levels, how they change over time and what drives their development. Areas for future research include analysis of the impacts of performance regimes and interactions between their visible features (such as inspections, performance indicators and star ratings) and the veiled rationalities which underpin them.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Joined up policy in practice? The coherence and impacts of the local government modernisation agenda

The last decade has witnessed a raft of new policies designed to transform the politics and performance of local authorities in the UK. Over the next three years, a specially commissioned themed section of Local Government Studies will explore the impact of these policies drawing on recent empirical studies by leading researchers in the field. This paper, the first in the series, sets the scene by tracing the evolution of key policies, analysing their objectives and assessing the extent to which they can, as central government has claimed, be seen as a coherent package of complementary policies. It concludes that whilst at first sight the links between policies within the Local Government Modernisation Agenda are not obvious, policies have become increasingly holistic. Local authority officers perceive them to be interacting in ways that contribute to the achievement of service improvement, more effective community leadership, increased stakeholder engagement, greater accountability and increased public confidence. However, the lack of ‘joined up’ working across Whitehall presents significant problems for councils and other agencies that are responsible for local service delivery and a continuing challenge for central government

To be strategic in the new public sector, HR must remember its operational activities

This article examines the level of operational and strategic involvement by human resource departments, the influence of HR departments, and the level of strategic integration as predictors of human resource management performance. Surveys from 146 senior line managers and HR executives in commercialized and noncommercialized public-sector agencies in Australia were the basis of organizational- and individual-level analyses. Results indicate positive relationships between the degree to which operational HR activities are transferred to line managers, HR influence, strategic integration, and the performance of the HRM function. Interestingly, no relationship was found between the level of strategic involvement by HR departments and the perceived performance of the function. Analysis of the individual-level data supports the multiple-constituency approach to HRM, with differences in the evaluation of HRM by respondents from different job functions. The study highlights challenges faced by HR practitioners needing to be operational, to be valued strategically