A step by step guide to delivering great policy (outcomes)

In this chapter we provide practical guidance on the steps and ingredients required to deliver great policy outcomes, applicable to all policy types. We have split the policy journey described earlier into two distinct phases:

• Phase 1: Preparation (establishing policy purpose and authority) which involves: Context (before starting); Purpose; Outreach; Definition; Options; Trial (if possible) and obtaining a clear decision (authority)
• Phase 2: Navigation (ongoing policy design, delivery and management) which includes Establish; Policy Management (continuous Test-Driven Design, Approval and Launch); and eventually, Policy Finalisation (to end, pivot or continue). We have intentionally kept the majority of policy design work as part of Phase 2, so as to avoid the common mistake of a single point in time approach to the design of the policy settings, and to ensure a continuous exploration and optimisation of policy settings and proactive scaling up and down of policy interventions over the entire policy lifecycle. You can find a range of useful mindsets, skills and tools in the Fitness chapter to support you. Below is a diagram of the two phases, which also shows how policy design and delivery is continuously evolving until it either ends in a decision point to either close the policy, continue as is, or to rejig the authority/purpose if the policy needs a fundamental change.

As with our policy journey, the key to delivering great policy outcomes is to stay outcomes focused, grounded in reality and as cooperative and open as possible, both in process and in mindset. Whatever your policy type, and whatever you have been asked to do, it is your responsibility to be a steward for sustainable, ethical and lawful public good, and to ensure a properly evidence-based, inclusive and equitable approach to the whole policy lifecycle.