The What Works network, a key action in the Civil Service reform plan, will help to strengthen evidence-based policy making. You can read the publication here.
The Chief Secretary, Danny Alexander, writes exclusively for the Civil Service Reform website about the launch of the What Works Network
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was established in 1999 with the aim of giving independent advice about which treatments should be available on the NHS. Incredibly, this was the first time a body of this kind had ever been established.
In deciding whether a treatment should be made available, NICE is required to consider whether it delivers good value for money and helps the NHS meet its goals for delivering high quality care, for example by improving cancer survival. For patients, it means that when their doctor prescribes them a drug or a treatment, they know that the decision has been informed by the best possible evidence. NICE is just one example of why UK is renowned as a world leader in many areas of research. The Coalition have recognised the success of NICE, which is why from 1 April its role will be expanded to include social care.
However, we still need to go much further by expanding the amount of evidence we collect and use to make sure that public services can draw upon a wide-ranging evidence base. At a time when the public finances are stretched, and more savings will be required across government, it is more important than ever that public money is invested smartly on services that deliver the best results and real value for money for the taxpayer. On 5 March we did precisely that by launching the What Works Network – a family of organisations which will build upon existing evidence-based policy making and provide robust, comprehensive research to guide decision making on around £200bn of public spending.
Alongside NICE, we already have the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), which aims to raise the attainment of children facing disadvantage by identifying promising educational innovations that address the needs of disadvantaged children. NICE and the EEF will be joined in the What Works Network by four new institutions, each independent from Government and each responsible for developing further the robust evidence base used to inform public spending in a given area. These new institutions will cover reducing crime, promoting active and independent ageing, effective early intervention and fostering local growth. Each of these new centres will provide accessible information to help local authority commissioners, head teachers, Police and Crime Commissioners and others deliver better public services on the ground.
The goal is simple – this Government wants to lead the world by continuing to place high quality evidence at the heart of public services. The What Works Network marks a step change in our evidence generating capabilities, ensuring that decisions at all levels of government can be grounded in the strongest available research and aimed at delivering the best possible outcomes for those who have the greatest need. A decade from now, we will wonder how we ever did without it.
You can see footage from the What Works Network launch event, including speeches from Danny Alexander and Oliver Letwin below on Vimeo:
And you can see the Presentations and the Q & A session on Youtube:
