Country Profile: United Kingdom

• Author: Naldini, Andrea; Pompili, Marco; Peruccacci, Eleonora
• Pages: 253-258

253

28.COUNTRY PROFI LE: UNI TED KI NGDOM

Introduction

The United Kingdom is a cent ralised countr y, and Her Majesty ’s ( HM) Governm ent is in

charge of defining policies and supervising theirimplementation throughout the

cou nt ry . More ov er, HM Gove rn me nt est ab lish es t ha t all po lici es ( als o St at e aidschem es)

should b e subject to evaluat ion. HM Tr easury produced the Green and Magenta Books,

which are publicly available and provide general guidance on how to conduct appraisal

(Green) and evaluation (Magenta) in Government. Central Government, through the

Departmentfor B usin ess, Ene rgy a nd I ndu str ial St ra teg y (BEI S) , is th e m ain r esp onsi ble

for evaluations.

28.1.Sect ion 1-National r ules for t he evaluation ofSt ate aidschemes

28.1.1.Obligat ion or lack ther eof to evaluat e

HM Gove rnm ent st ates t hat ‘All policies, pr ogr amm es a nd proj ects shou ld b e subj ect to

comprehensive butproportionate evaluation, where practicable to do so’ (Magenta

Book, 2011) 231. State aidin th e United Kingdom falls with in t his general requ irem ent . A

number of documents released by HM Government reinforce the importance of

evaluation in public policy. Managing Public Money232states that ‘one of the essentials

of ef fect ive internal decisi on m aki ng is a fter-the-eve nt evaluation of policy, pr oject and

pr ogrammes out put s and out com es‘ ( HM Treasu ry, 2012)233. Furth er guidan ce from HM

Governmentin the Impact Assessment Guidanceadds that‘measures that include a

statut ory review provision sh ould be formally reviewed wit hin five y ears of enactm ent ,

and then regularly on a five-year cycle. The main vehicle for this review should be a

post-implementation review (PIR). PIRs should be proportionate, ranging fromlight-

t ouch t o e con om ic e val uat ion ’ (NA O, 2 01 3) 234. The ba sic app roa ch is a ppl ied to al l s ect ors

wh ere HM Govern ment comm its public funds235. To be clear , t he evaluat ion ofSt ate aid

is tr eat ed in t he same w ay as th e evalu atio n of a ny maj or Gover nment pr ogr amm e and

is required to be informed by the Green Book and the Magenta Book.

28.1.2.Proced ures t o enfor ce t he o bligation

A r ecen t Nation al Au dit Office (NAO) Repo rt 236stat es: ‘Treas ury expect s all depart ment s

to eval uate t he ex po st im pact s and cost s of al l thei r int ervent ions, inclu ding spending ,

taxation and regulation. This activity should provide valuable information on the cost-

effectiveness of government interventions, for the purposes of accountability and to

learn lessons to im prove cu rrent and fut ure po licies’. This applies t o St ate aid.

231https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/22

0542/magenta_book_combined.pdf

232https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/74

2188/Managing_Public_Money__MPM__2018.pdf

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ht t p: / / w ww .hm -treasury.gov.uk/data_greenbook_index.htm.

234ht t ps: / / w ww .n ao. or g. uk / wp -content/uploads/2013/12/10331-001-Evaluation-in-government_NEW.pdf

235

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236https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/74

2188/Managing_Public_Money__MPM__2018.pdf