Outcomes-based approaches and the devolved administrations

Governments in all three devolved administrations of the UK (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have been adopting what they define as an outcome based approach to aspects of their policy making. This chapter examines the attraction of outcome based approaches and the outcome based accountability (OBA) model in particular. It assesses the conceptual issues arising from the OBA methodology and its application and examines arguments about the value of the OBA approach. The relationship between outcomes and indicators and the use of OBA for monitoring and evaluating performance is discussed. While there has been substantial buy-in to the principle of an outcomes based approach in the three administrations the paper questions whether there is evidence that these approaches have improved performance and policy.