Thursday, November 25, 2004
This could go either way.....
There is a social policy powwow going on in Wellington this week that is focusing on the effectiveness of social policy, dubbed, “What Works?” - investing in effective social policy".
My Right is encouraged and hesitant about this one. Social Steve Maharey and Pete Hodgson are making all the right noises about "evidence based" social spending;
“In the past social policy has tended to be treated as an area of expenditure without any clear evidence of what particular policies lead to improvements for society and the economy,” the Ministers said. “This government has been taking very important steps to find out which social policies work so it can invest in what is effective and not continue with policies that don’t prove themselves.”This is hugely encouraging. Well directed and monitored social spending is a good thing. My Right's only fear is that if Government Department's are left to 'self evaluate' their own policy then this could end up being a template budget justification (read - expansion) exercise.
Let's hope that this is not the case and that the central theme of this conference is that Government Departments are spending our money, not their own. They are not sanctioned to create policy or programs deemed 'worthy' in their own eyes beyond the scope that the Government lays down.
More to follow when the findings are released.
