Policy Impact Assessments

Policy impact assessment is about ensuring policy making is effective and has a beneficial impact. However, it can be a deeply unattractive prospect for those who have to put it into practice. In the following article, managing consultant Jo Potter describes an approach to policy impact assessment that ensures it has teeth and is embedded in an organisation.

Why do it?

Policy impact assessment is the process by which an organisation thinks through the impacts of a policy or initiative and ensures that it maximises the positive impacts and minimises or mitigates any negative ones. For organisations and individuals on the receiving end of new policies and initiatives, this process is crucial since they have to live with the consequences.

For the organisation making the policy, the process is equally important since a poorly thought out policy will not achieve what is intended and can harm relationships with stakeholders. In addition, the process of policy impact assessment should ensure that all possible benefits from a policy or initiative are systematically and thoroughly considered prior to its launch in order to maximise the policy's impact.

Example of Policy Impact Assessment in Action

While a human resources toolkit can be used to encourage HR best practice, it can also contribute in other areas. Typically this will include equalities objectives through good recruitment practice, training and promotion opportunities, childcare facilities and so on. The toolkit could also add value to the sustainable development agenda in areas such as green travel to work policies and home working for example.

The full potential of a toolkit like this to deliver on organisational goals can be missed without a systematic assessment. As a result, policy impact assessment has gained a higher profile in recent years especially in the areas of equalities sustainable development. In addition, the Government has been driving forward its 'Better Regulation' agenda, which has required government departments and other public bodies to assess the extent to which regulation is necessary and to evaluate the costs and benefits of regulation.

Avoiding Burdensome Bureaucracy

The trend at government level has been towards greater 'monetisation' of costs and benefits in carrying out this assessment. Many public sector bodies fear analysing the impacts of policies and programmes will create a massive bureaucracy out of all proportion to the real requirements.

Clearly impact assessment processes that are seen as unnecessary and burdensome bureaucracy by those who have to operate them are highly likely to be ineffective. Develop a process which is understood by the organisation as a whole, deemed necessary, proportionate and which is deeply embedded in the culture is essential.

Keys to Policy Impact Assessment Success

Based on Oakleigh Consulting's experience, the keys to success include:

1. The reasons for it are well understood throughout the organisation
2. It forms part of an organisational culture which supports the overall approach
3. It is developed with staff who are going to have to operate it
4. It is kept as simple as possible
5. It is proportionate to the size or importance of the policy or initiative
6. 6. It is promoted throughout the organisation so that all staff are aware of it and understand the need to complete it
7. Time is allocated within the overall process of developing and promulgating a policy or initiative to complete the impact assessment

Policy Impact Assessment Case Study

Oakleigh recently worked with a public sector organisation to develop a single impact assessment process that was capable of doing the following:

Assessing the impact on stakeholders of regulatory policies and initiatives
Identifying sustainable development issues and assessing the impact of policies or initiatives on sustainable development
Assessing the impact of policies or initiatives on equalities (including race, gender and disability) and
Enabling staff to consider opportunities to promote race, gender and disability equality.

We worked closely with staff in a series of workshops to develop a relatively simple process, which addressed all of these areas. One aspect of this was to apply the new impact assessment model to a number of existing policies. This was a powerful process since it highlighted how often the potential implications of a policy had been missed in the past and how if the policy impact assessment process had been applied, the policy might have turned out differently. Opportunities to promote sustainable development and equalities had been missed in particular.

Embedding the Process

Embedding the process in the culture of the organisation is of supreme importance if Policy Impact Assessment is to succeed. This means working with staff to develop a plan and process which should include:

Briefing workshops for board members, staff, other stakeholders
Incorporation in induction training for new staff
Reflecting the process in other types of staff training
Integrating the process with other policies and processes
Changing report templates to ensure that policy impact assessment of new policies is reflected
Ensuring details of the process are readily available on the organisation intranet
Ensuring that the implementation of the process is reflected in directors and senior managers' responsibilities
Reviewing the operation of the process after 6 months

Conclusion

Policy impact assessment is an essential process for any organisation. Done well, the positive benefits of a policy have been maximised and that any negative ones have been minimised. In essence it is about making policy better by delivering more of the organisation's objectives. The time spent on developing a simple and easily understood process with staff and thoroughly embedding it in the organisation will repay dividends.

If you have any questions about the subjects covered in this white paper or you would like to find out more about how Oakleigh Consulting could help your organisation, please contact us on 0161 835 4100 or email us.

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You may publish, quote or reproduce any white papers on this website on the condition that Oakleigh Consulting Ltd is notified, properly credited (and linked to) as the source, including our URL: www.oakleigh.co.uk.

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