A National Audit Office (NAO) report has found that despite government departments including early intervention as a high-level objective in policy plans, spending on preventative work has remained constant at about six per cent of their combined budgets each year.
The report makes recommendations to government on how to invest in intervening early, rather than reacting to problems as and when they arise.
These include gathering more evidence about what works, overcoming the political election-driven “short-term bias” and improving cross-departmental practices, such as pooling budgets.
The NAO also suggests that the Treasury should quantify the potential of early intervention to reduce future public spending and increase economic growth.
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