ABSTRACT
Perhaps the most helpful way to start reviewing the evidence of previous chapters is to return to the point of departure for our exploration. The Financial Management Initiative which prompted Whitehall’s love affair with performance indicators hinged on the assumption that effective management in government required the definition of objectives and the development of measures to assess progress towards their achievement. So it would seem only reasonable, as a first step in moving towards our own conclusions, to ask whether the Government succeeded in achieving the policy objectives that prompted the whole exercise. What performance indicators can we devise to measure the success or otherwise of the Government’s performance indicators crusade? The question is all the more illuminating because it turns out to be extremely difficult to answer. In making the attempt we illustrate, and summarise, some of the themes that have emerged during the course of the exploration: specifically, the complexities inherent both in the notion of defining objectives and in the design of performance indicators.
