The Scottish Government has launched a centre for evaluation and appraisal, with the aim of joining up the two processes to drive better policymaking.
Public finance minister Ivan McKee announced the launch of the Centre of Expertise in Appraisal and Evaluation at a UK Evaluation Society conference held in Glasgow last week.
He told attendees: “As minister of public finance, having robust evidence and data is central to inform my decision making, and even more so now during a period of fiscal constraints.
“The new centre further recognises the importance of this, and the key role both appraisal and evaluation play in effective decision making.
“The centre will help us learn what works, and what does not, it can give us insights, help us improve the delivery of our programmes, and help us ensure we are providing value for money.”
The centre has been given responsibility for delivering the Scottish Government's evaluation action plan, which was published in August. To deliver this aim, its work will be focused around four themes:
- Developing a stronger culture of appraisal and evaluation in the Scottish Government through better training and guidance
- Improving the Scottish Government’s appraisal and evaluation activities
- Making better use of the evidence which the government collects as part of these activities
- Greater openness and transparency in relation to appraisal and evaluation
McKee is also launching a public service reform strategy next month, which will set out the Scottish Government’s plans to tackle systemic barriers to reform. He told the conference that having the right data and evidence will be critical to driving systemic change and that the centre will “play a key role in designing and delivering monitoring and evaluation” of the strategy.
The centre has been set up by the Scottish Government’s chief economist, Dr Gary Gillespie, and its chief researcher, Dr Audrey MacDougall.
Explaining the idea behind the new centre, Gillespie said: “Both appraisal and evaluation use similar types of evidence and are important methods for demonstrating and maximising value for money. Appraisal happens at the beginning of the policy process and assesses the costs, benefits and risks of alternative ways to meet government objectives.
“Evaluation is the process which usually happens after the policy or intervention has been implemented and assesses how it has performed. It is an important process for learning lessons.
“Despite both processes using similar evidence, they are often carried out in isolation.
“As well as driving forward improvements in how we evaluate, Audrey and myself established the centre to strengthen our approach to appraisal and to join up both.”