A report by the Smith Institute calls for a rethink of the impact of public spending and how it is accounted for.
In “Spending fairly, spending well: time for a radical overhaul of value for money and public audit” David Walker and John Tizard call for two new agencies to be created: an Independent Office for the 3Es (effectiveness, efficiency and equity); and a Public Interest Appraisal Unit.
There would be a subsequent change to the remit of the National Audit Office.
The Office for the 3Es would be responsible for monitoring value for money throughout the entire public sector and would “…look across the chasms separating health, local government, housing and social care.”
The new office’s role would encompass looking at the overall financing of local government, and compare the costs of providing particular services in different local authorities.
The report said that with regard to local government: “The repurposing of the NAO and the creation of a pan-public sector Office of the 3Es would require both parliament and local authorities to rethink their roles.
“To some, subjecting councils to monitoring by the Office for the 3Es would infringe their autonomy.
“Yet they are already subject to external inspection – by the CQC and Ofsted and other regulators.
“The Office for the 3Es would level the playing field by making central government departments subject to the same scrutiny as councils.”
