Public Sector Value for Money Training Course

Participants can establish governance arrangements that assign responsibility for value for money decisions and assurance.

• Accountability maps assign responsibilities between ministers, accounting officers and delivery managers
• Delegated authorities, spending limits and approval routes documented clearly
• Three lines model separates management controls, oversight and independent assurance
• Audit committee reporting links control findings to corrective management actions
• Managing conflicts between savings targets, equity commitments and statutory obligations
• VfM governance calendar synchronises budgets, performance reviews and audit reporting

Participants can create outcome frameworks that connect public investment to measurable benefits and indicators.

• Theory of Change links interventions, assumptions, outputs, outcomes and impacts
• Logic models specify inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and indicators
• SMART indicators include baselines, targets, data sources and accountable owners
• Outcome measures distinguish attribution, contribution and external influencing factors
• Disaggregation tests service results by geography, gender, income or vulnerability
• Benefits maps connect programme investments to measurable public value claims

Participants can calculate service costs, analyse cost drivers and compare performance between delivery models.

• Full-cost models allocate direct, shared, capital and overhead costs consistently
• Unit-cost calculations reconcile service volumes, cost drivers and quality standards
• Activity-based costing traces support costs through activities to service outputs
• Marginal and average costs inform scale, closure and expansion decisions
• Benchmarking compares adjusted costs, volumes and quality across comparable providers
• Cost drivers isolate payroll, demand, procurement and asset-utilisation variances

Participants can assess alternative interventions using structured financial, service and risk criteria.

• Options appraisal defines the counterfactual, constraints and decision criteria
• Cost-benefit analysis discounts costs and benefits using approved social discount rates
• Cost-effectiveness analysis compares alternative interventions against a common outcome measure
• Multi-criteria decision analysis weights financial, service, equity and deliverability factors
• Sensitivity analysis tests assumptions, optimism bias and critical decision thresholds
• Distributional analysis identifies who gains, pays and bears implementation risk

Participants can use budgets, forecasts and variance analysis to direct timely management action.

• Performance-informed budgets connect appropriations to outputs, outcomes and unit costs
• Medium-term expenditure frameworks test affordability beyond the annual budget cycle
• Variance analysis separates price, volume, mix, timing and efficiency effects
• Forecasting identifies budget pressures, underspends and corrective actions early
• Monthly management reports combine financial results, performance indicators and narrative
• Exception thresholds trigger escalation, reforecasting and accountable recovery actions

Participants can evaluate procurement and contract decisions using whole-life cost and performance evidence.

• Whole-life costing compares acquisition, operation, maintenance, disposal and residual value
• Make-or-buy analysis tests cost, capability, market and control considerations
• Specification design links supplier deliverables to measurable service outcomes
• Contract management plans define milestones, payment mechanisms, remedies and governance
• Open-book accounting tests supplier cost evidence and gainshare calculations
• Supplier performance scorecards monitor cost, quality, timeliness and social value

Participants can assess control risks and specify assurance actions for significant public expenditure.

• Risk registers assess inherent risk, controls, residual exposure and ownership
• COSO internal control components support reliable reporting and operational discipline
• Fraud risk assessments identify red flags, vulnerabilities and response controls
• Segregation-of-duties matrices prevent incompatible approvals, payments and reconciliations
• Scenario planning quantifies fiscal, delivery and reputational consequences of disruption
• Control testing documents design effectiveness, operating effectiveness and remediation evidence

Participants can design management reports that convert financial and performance evidence into decisions.

• Balanced scorecards integrate financial stewardship, service quality, people and improvement measures
• Dashboard design distinguishes leading indicators, lagging indicators and decision thresholds
• Statistical process control charts separate common-cause variation from special-cause signals
• Peer benchmarking normalises performance data before comparison and challenge
• Benefits realisation reviews confirm outcomes, costs, ownership and corrective action
• Performance dialogues convert evidence into decisions, commitments and follow-up dates

Participants can present defensible value for money findings and plan implementation actions.

• VfM reports structure findings, evidence, conclusions, recommendations and management responses
• Audit-ready evidence trails link source data, calculations, approvals and decisions
• Recommendation prioritisation ranks actions by value, feasibility, risk and ownership
• Implementation roadmaps sequence quick wins, dependencies, milestones and review points
• Stakeholder communication explains trade-offs, service impacts and financial implications
• Personal application plans select immediate VfM improvements and evidence requirements