'Sloppy data' clouds Whitehall performance targets

Whitehall is unable to say whether it has hit three-year performance targets because of poor data management.

The National Audit Office today reported that while many government departments had "made progress in meeting good practice principles for managing data systems, not all had developed systems that managed all the significant risks to data reliability or explained the weaknesses of their public performance reports".

Public Service Agreements (PSAs) are at the centre of government department performance management. They are negotiated between Whitehall departments and the Treasury. Each PSA sets out the department's objectives and performance targets.

Sir John Bourn said in a statement: "I welcome the fact that government departments have managed in many cases to establish robust data systems where measurement presented considerable difficulties.

"However, progress across the board in developing sound systems has been variable and departments must overcome the difficulties and develop performance management systems that allow the full benefits of PSA targets to be realised."

To improve data management, the NAO report recommends departments perform risk assessments and regularly check the quality of their data.