Appendix
Forecast non-financial performance information reports: Guidance for entities.
| Possible Issues | Why important? |
|---|---|
| 1. Performance framework/story | |
| a) The document should provide the reader with a clear picture of what the entity is trying to achieve and how it believes it contributes to this. | In order for the document to be used to hold an entity to account, it is important that the reader is able to understand what the entity is trying to achieve and how its activities contribute to this. |
| b) Outcomes should be identified at an appropriate level. Where high-level outcomes are identified, these should be supported by lower-level outcomes and impacts as appropriate. | Outcomes need to be specified at a level that the entity can reasonably claim to contribute to or influence. |
| c) The document should provide the reader with a clear picture of the outputs (services) that the entity is accountable for. | The outputs of the entity help the reader to understand what the entity actually delivers through the application of its resources. |
| d) The relationship between the outputs of the entity, the impact it is intended to have, and the outcomes that it is seeking to contribute to or influence should be clearly explained to the reader. This may require a number of layers in the intervention logic to be stated. | Clearly explaining the intervention logic helps the reader to understand how the entity believes that the goods and services it is accountable for will ultimately result in improved outcomes. |
| e) The SOI and the Forecast SSP/ISE should reflect the entity’s performance management arrangements. | In order to fairly reflect the entity’s service performance for the year, the SSP must be consistent with the internal performance management arrangements. Given that the SSP also needs to be consistent with the forecast SSP, it follows that the Forecast SSP and SOI must also reflect an entity’s performance management arrangements. |
| 2. Outcomes | |
| a) Outcomes, which should relate to a state or condition of society, the economy, or the environment, and including a change in that state or condition, should be identified in the document. | The SOI is required to identify the outcomes that the entity is aiming to contribute to or influence. |
| b) Outcomes should not include objectives for organisational improvement. | It is clearly important for entities to look to improve their organisational capacity and capability and to specify objectives in relation to these. However, “outcomes” should relate to why the entity exists – that is, the end to which any organisational improvement is to be used. |
| c) Outcomes should be immediately clear to the reader. | The outcomes should not be “lost” in the document among priorities, goals, strategic aims, objectives, and other material. |
| d) Outcomes should be phrased appropriately. | Outcomes should relate to a state or condition of society, the economy, or the environment; and include a change in that state or condition. |
| e) Outcomes should be supported by measures. | Without measures, it will be difficult for the entity and reader to know that progress is being made towards outcomes. |
| f) Targets for outcome measures (covering the full period of the SOI ) should be included in the document. | Clear targets for outcomes, which must cover the full period to which the SOI relates, will allow the entity and reader to understand what the entity is seeking to achieve and reach a view about whether sufficient progress is being made. |
| g) The inclusion of current/historical performance for outcome (main) measures provides helpful context to the reader in relation to outcomes. | Current/historical performance information provides useful context which can be used to help understand targets and future performance. |
| h) The inclusion of comparative data from other organisations and / or countries provides helpful context to the reader in relation to outcomes. | Comparative information from other organisations or countries helps the reader to understand the level of outcomes which the entity is seeking to influence. |
| 3. Output classes | |
| a) The output classes used for financial and non-financial information should be consistent, or a reconciliation of the two sets of information should be provided. | In order to allow the reader to reach a view about an entity’s planned performance, it needs to be possible to reconcile the non-financial performance forecasts with the financial forecasts. |
| b) The output classes referred to in the medium-term component of the document should be consistent with those used in the forecast SSP to group outputs. | Consistent use of output classes allows the entity to more easily set out its performance framework and demonstrate the links between outputs, impacts, and outcomes. |
| c) Output classes, and the number of them, should be appropriate to the entity. | The use of output classes allows the entity to aggregate its services in such a way that the reader is provided with sufficient information about the activities of the whole entity without being burdened with too much detail. |
| 4. Outputs | |
| a) Outputs, which should relate to the goods and services provided to third parties which the entity is accountable for, should be included in the document. | The Forecast SSP is required to include the outputs which the entity is accountable for delivering. |
| b) The outputs included in the document should cover all “significant” services of the entity and a significant proportion of the entity’s budget. | The SOI should provide the reader with a comprehensive picture of an entity’s activities. In order to do this, it is important that the all of the major goods and services provided are covered by outputs in the Forecast SSP. This can be demonstrated by ensuring that the outputs represented in the Forecast SSP cover a significant proportion of the entity’s budget. |
| c) Output performance measures should not relate to internal processes, events, milestones, and other deliverables. | Internal processes, events, milestones, and other deliverables represent important information that may need to be communicated to the reader. However, they do not represent outputs. |
| d) The outputs included in the document should include those goods and services that are contracted out by the entity. These should relate to the end service provided and not to the contract management process. | Outputs and the associated measures of output performance should cover those end services for which the entity is accountable, even if does not deliver them directly itself. |
| e) Performance measures should cover sufficient dimensions of performance. | Measures for each output should cover an appropriate range of dimensions (such as quality, quantity and timeliness,) of an output so that a balanced and rounded picture of performance can be obtained. |
| f) As a minimum, targets for output measures should be included for 2009/10. | Without clear targets being set and included in the Forecast SSP, it is difficult for the reader to form a view about planned performance, and for actual performance to be compared to forecast. The inclusion of targets for more than one year helps the reader to understand planned changes in the services provided over time. |
| g)Targets included in the document should be reasonable, and should represent best estimates. | Targets should reflect the priorities of the entity, its resources, choices, and historical performance. |
| h) Where the documents contain demand-driven measures, these need to be clearly identified as such and the reason for their inclusion needs to be explained. | Demand-driven measures provide useful information and context in relation to an entity’s performance. However, they are not under the control of the entity and therefore need to be clearly identified as such and supported by “true” outputs. |
| i) Management commentary should help to explain how and why targets have been set at a particular level. | Without appropriate explanation, it is difficult for the reader to understand why particular targets have been set at particular levels. This is particularly true when targets are set at the same or a lower level than in previous years, although increased targets may also require explanation. |
| j) Performance measures and targets should be supported by current/historical levels of performance where this is available or by an explanation of when it will be available. | Current/historical performance information provides the context for future performance targets. |
| k) The inclusion of comparative data from other organisations or countries provides helpful context to the reader in relation to outputs. | Comparative information from other organisations helps the reader to understand the level of output performance that the entity is seeking to achieve. |
| l) It should be clear to the reader which output performance measures will be reported against in the Annual Report / SSP. | The Annual Report / SSP should reflect the content of the SOI /Forecast SSP. |
| 5. Other document issues | |
| a) The document should be easy to read, concise, and include diagrams where this will aid the reader’s understanding. | It is important that, as a key accountability document to Parliament and the public, the SOI is clearly written and accessible. |
| b) The document should contain information about how the entity will ensure that it has sufficient capacity and resources to deliver its outputs and achieve the outcomes sought. | It is important that the reader is able to see that the entity’s plans in terms of its non financial performance are supported by the resources, capacity, and capability it has available. |
| c) The document should provide sufficient information to allow the reader to assess cost-effectiveness. Sufficient information could include cost-effectiveness measures for major outputs or logical demonstration of linkages between expenditures, outputs, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes, with the emphasis being on the attribution of outcomes to spending. | The SOI is required to provide information on the cost-effectiveness of its interventions. |
| d) There should be consistency between the SOI and the ISE (government departments only). | The use of different terminology and the inclusion of different outcomes/impacts in the SOI and the ISE can make it extremely difficult for the reader to understand the relationship between financial appropriations, the delivery of outputs, and the achievement of outcomes. |
| e) Appropriate references are made to the ISE in the SOI and vice versa (government departments only). | In order to allow the reader to obtain a complete overview of an entity’s planned performance, it is important that they are able to understand how the SOI and ISE fit together. |
| f) The SOI and the Forecast SSP/ISE should be “stand alone” documents. | The SOI should provide a concise overview of an entity’s planned activities, how these will contribute to outcomes, and the measures and targets that will be used to demonstrate progress, without the need to refer to other documents. |
| g) The SOI and the Forecast SSP/ISE should contain information about all significant aspects of the entity, including recent/planned developments. | The accountability documents should provide the reader with a high-level overview of the entity and its activities. |
| 6. Supporting Systems and Controls | |
| a) The forecast performance information in the SOI and Forecast SSP / ISE should be supported by robust systems and controls that are integrated into the entity’s overall performance management arrangements. | The absence of robust systems and controls which can be relied upon to produce forecast and historic performance information is likely to:
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