Performance Indicators, Accountability and Improved Service
| Published date | 01 June 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058903600204 |
| Date | 01 June 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
65
Performance
Indicators,
Accountability
and
Improved
Service
’Performance
Indicators’,
their
construc-
tion,
interpretation
and
influence
on
the
distribution
of
resources,
are
an
increas-
ingly
prominent
tool
in
the
public
sector.
Howard
Thomas,
Chief
Probation
Officer
of
North
Wales,
argues
that
we
should
lose
no
time
in
grasping
their
significance
and
producing
PIs
which
reflect
Service
values,
without
waiting
for
them
to
be
imposed
from
above.
~
alling
public
services
to
some
r>
form
of
account,
financial
or
~
~,.~,~~
otherwise,
is
gathering
momentum.
As
they
cannot
»
,.
be
gauged
to
be
‘efficient
<
~g~uy~~~,
and
effective’
by
the
sim-
ple
tool
of
whether
the
z,~n
.,.
a>~w‘~’f
organisation
is
profitable
(a
questionable
test
per-
haps,
in
the
light
of
some
recent
incidents),
other
methods
of
assess-
ment
need
to
be
constructed.
Performance
Indicators,
~
&dquo;
determined
by
the
fun-
.
ders,
are
a
major
and
~
~
,, ,
legitimate
tool
in
the
pro-
%~s?
cess
of
accountability
and
in
the
exercise
of
authority
~~
j,
and
power.
#~
Within
some
major
public
’°
services,
particularly
Health,
PIs
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