Introduction

Chapter 1 introduced some basic ideas relevant to performance measurement in public services and argued that such measurement, done properly, is likely to be very useful whatever political philosophy justifies the provision and organisation of those services. In this chapter we consider the various reasons for measuring performance and use this as a basis for discussing some principles of performance measurement systems. Finally, we point out some of the things that can go wrong if we are not very careful.

Why measure the performance of public services?

If we accept that measuring the performance of public agencies and programmes is desirable, this does not guarantee that it will always be worthwhile. Performance measurement can be costly and dysfunctional if not done properly. If public services are supposed to add value, what value is added by performance measurement? In answering this question we need to consider why performance measurement can be useful. Various authors have attempted to spell out the main reasons for measuring the performance of public services; for example, Propper and Wilson (2003). Here we consider the common reasons for performance measurement in public services.