Agency Analysis Model (2008:17)
Summary of publication Modell för myndighetsanalyser
Background and starting points
Background and need for a new instrument
In 2007 the Swedish Government commissioned the Swedish Agency for Public Management, in consultation with the Swedish Administrative Development Agency (Verva) and in close cooperation with agencies and all ministries in the Government Offices, to propose a model for implementation of external agency analyses (Fi2007/8016). In the Government’s view, there is a need for documentation to facilitate the Government’s assessment of whether a given agency, in its current form, is capable of conducting activities successfully in accordance with their own functions. A systematic method of carrying out external analyses of the agencies would develop and support the work of annual performance management and broaden the basis of the Government’s assessment.
Purpose of agency analyses and model
Under the Agency’s assignment, one purpose of the agency analyses is that they should constitute documentation for the Government’s dialogues with agency managements concerning objectives and results. In this context, the agency analyses serve to supplement the analytical data drawn up by the ministry concerned in preparation for the dialogues on objectives and results.
Under the assignment, the agency analyses should also underlie the Government’s assessment of whether an agency is equipped to cope with change in its own area; whether the Government’s control is fit for purpose; whether activities are defined in an appropriate way; and how the agency works and collaborates to ensure administration vis-à-vis citizens and businesses that is efficient and legally sound. In this context, too, the agency analyses are among several documentary bases, i.e. these analyses alone will not deal with every single one of the objectives in its entirety.
This proposed model describes both the content of the agency analyses and the means by which the analyses are to be performed, from the viewpoints of the ministry, the agency analysed and the analytical group. The purpose of the model is to provide:
- support for the Government and ministries in ordering agency analyses
- analytical and methodological support for those who perform the analyses
- transparency for the agencies analysed.