TNAG-1531-FCO40-2095-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1987 — Page 60

J

PLANNING AN EVALUATION

The

essence of good evaluation lies in

in

clear

clear definition

of

policy objectives,

good judgement and commonsense

in the selection of evaluation methods, and imagination

and flair in the general approach.

5 The best time to plan evaluation is before the policy

Some of the reasons are obvious:

is introduced.

appraisal

a

there may have been a thorough

at which the important questions were explored;

b

everything is fresh in the mind of the policy

manager and he is

then in a good position to

think of what is likely to be important later on;

C

the

arrangements

for getting

can be set up from the

the required

start.

This

information

is usually the cheapest way;

6

d

a

good procedure

can

be

its

this will

planned. At

simplest, for a policy of any substance,

include special files and regular planned meetings.

there may be a unique opportunity to compare out- turns before and after the new policyis introduced.

Ministers

instructed that policy evaluation

e

have

all new policy initiatives and all

should be built into all

policy reviews. In addition, all policy proposals with

value

for

implications money

in

Cabinet

and

Cabinet

2

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