Summary: The administration has proposed the creation of performance-based organizations, modeled after the British Next Steps agencies. According to the British government, the aim of the Next Steps initiative has been to improve the delivery of government services, obtain better value for the taxpayers' money, and give staff more satisfying work and working conditions. The proposed U.S. performance-based organizations would seek to separate service delivery functions from policy functions. In exchange for freedom from certain government requirements, the head of the agency would be held directly accountable for the agency's performance. This testimony (1) provides an overview of the Next Steps initiative, including the number and size of British agencies participating in the program and the reported performance of those agencies; (2) discusses lessons learned from the Next Steps initiative that GAO believes are most relevant to performance-based organizations; and (3) highlights some of the major issues that Congress may wish to examine as it considers the administration's proposal to transform the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation into a performance- based organization.
