Business Plan Quarterly Data Summary (QDS)
Overview
The Business Plan Quarterly Data Summaries (QDS) are a core part of the transparency agenda. They provide the latest data on indicators included in Departmental Business Plans (published 13 May) as well as other published data and management information.
They are designed to fit on a single page to provide a quarterly snapshot on how each department is spending its budget, the results it has achieved and how it is deploying its workforce.
The QDS follows commitments made at Budget 2011 and the Written Ministerial Statement on Business Plans. Their primary purpose is to make more of the management information currently held by government available to members of the public on a regular basis. This information is not audited and should be used to provide a regular update on the management of Whitehall. We intend for this information to be formally laid in Parliament as part of future Annual Reports and Accounts.
The information is presented in excel format to allow the information to be presented in a re-usable format.
The QDS format is the same for all departments, though many of the individual indicators are unique to the department (especially input and impact indicators). For any interpretation or analysis of the information, users should pay careful attention to the accompanying Measurement Annex which outlines the caveats and nuances surrounding the data.
We will regularly update the QDS each quarter. Our intention is improve the QDS over time to improve the timeliness and quality of the data and to allow for further comparison between the metrics.
April 2012
January 2012
October 2011
July 2011
