Policy information
The Spending Review
From Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
The Spending Review 2020 – 2022 aims to maintain the momentum that has been developed since 2017 in subjecting programmes / policy areas to critical assessment on a rolling basis.
In a change from the approach adopted from 2017 – 2019, the scope of the Spending Review 2020 – 2022 is being broadened to encompass policy analysis and evaluation in support of the service-wide agenda of evidence-informed policy making in addition to the focus on expenditure re-prioritisation in the context of the Budget.
This approach, which will support a broader range of Spending Review topics, will further aligned the process with the IGEES Medium Term Strategy and to the current Public Service Reform Programme, Our Public Service 2020.
In leveraging the spending review as a platform for advancing evidence-informed policy making in the Civil Service, opportunities and objectives include the following, which dovetail with the IGEES Development Strategy for 2020-2022:-
- increasing the use of a wide range of data sources upon which policy analysis can be conducted;
- fostering engagement, learning and deliberation between Departments in relation to the formulation and implementation of public policy based on policy insights;
- Assessing the effectiveness of public expenditure in meeting policy objectives;
- Effectively feeding policy insights based on data into all stages of the policy process, including at Budget time; and
- Use of evidence and insights to inform programmes of reform and initiate reform where appropriate.
The spending review is overseen by a Steering Group of senior level officials from across the Civil Service. The group is responsible for providing high-level oversight of the process; meeting regularly throughout the spending review cycle to ensure analysis is policy relevant, impactful and supports the achievement of spending review objectives.
To support the Steering Group, subgroups are formed to conduct technical peer reviews of analysis being produced as part of the spending review. These subgroups will ordinarily contain officials from across the IGEES network. Both the Steering Group and the subgroups are supported by a Secretariat in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
| December | Briefing for Key Stakeholders |
| January and February | Topics are selected with scoping papers submitted and presented to the Steering Group |
| April and May | Drafts report are submitted and reviewed by subgroups |
| June and Early July | Final draft reports are submitted and key messages are presented to Steering Group. Reports are signed off by the Steering Group, local line Management and by the Minister for PER ahead of publication |
| July | Papers are published, alongside or shortly after the Mid-Year Expenditure Report, on the spending review website |
| August and September | Remaining papers submitted, reviewed by subgroups, key messages presented to Steering Group with reports signed off by Steering Group, local line Management and by Minister for PER ahead of publication |
| October | Papers published on or shortly after Budget day, on the spending review website |
The Spending Review in 2020 resulted in 25 published papers
The Spending Review in 2019 resulted in 28 published papers
The Spending Review 2018 resulted in 30 published papers
The Spending Review 2017 resulted in 21 published papers
