Thanks for the Q! VfM analysis can and should be used to inform good resource allocation decisions whether in a growing or shrinking budget environment. If a govt is in cost-cutting mode (and assuming they're not hellbent on deciding what to cut on ideological grounds, using CBA selectively as a weapon to justify their arbitrary decisions - cough), features of good VfM assessment include: 1) explicit values (and more than just efficiency, e.g., equity, sustainability, etc) - if the values are declared they can be challenged and debated, not fudged; 2) involve stakeholders (confronting the question of whose values); 3) admit multiple sources of credible evidence, e.g., balancing BCR with other numbers and narrative; 4) a transparent process for using the values to make warranted judgements from the evidence. A good case study in this approach is the Ka Ora, Ka Ako VfM analysis by Boyd Swinburn and colleagues - but this case also demonstrates that a govt can be presented with compelling analysis and still decide whatever they decide. https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/evidence-free-school-lunches-are-they-worth-investing
How does value for money analysis avoid being used as a Trojan horse for cutting the size of government as an end in itself?
Thanks for the Q! VfM analysis can and should be used to inform good resource allocation decisions whether in a growing or shrinking budget environment. If a govt is in cost-cutting mode (and assuming they're not hellbent on deciding what to cut on ideological grounds, using CBA selectively as a weapon to justify their arbitrary decisions - cough), features of good VfM assessment include: 1) explicit values (and more than just efficiency, e.g., equity, sustainability, etc) - if the values are declared they can be challenged and debated, not fudged; 2) involve stakeholders (confronting the question of whose values); 3) admit multiple sources of credible evidence, e.g., balancing BCR with other numbers and narrative; 4) a transparent process for using the values to make warranted judgements from the evidence. A good case study in this approach is the Ka Ora, Ka Ako VfM analysis by Boyd Swinburn and colleagues - but this case also demonstrates that a govt can be presented with compelling analysis and still decide whatever they decide. https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/evidence-free-school-lunches-are-they-worth-investing
Brilliant. Thanks Julian.