Variety may be the spice of life, but variation may spell the further demise of local government, or at least unexplained variation.
With a forthcoming Spending Review made tighter by a combination of Brexit-induced financial uncertainty and a pre-emptive promise of a significant NHS funding uplift, the sector needs to understand and mitigate the risks associated with unexplained variation in service quality and outcomes.
Spending reviews are notorious for seizing on unexplained variation as a means of identifying the potential for funding reductions. Why can’t the apparently least efficient improve to the level of say, the upper quartile, the thrusting young ones at the Treasury ask?
