Policy aims - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 178

these problems and contributing to well-being. Personal suffering and anxiety arises
from road accidents and from fear of traffic danger, both on the part of the individual
directly affected and of other members of their family. At a neighbourhood level there
can be concerns about the effect of transport routes or the presence of traffic flows in
inhibiting local pedestrian movement and introducing 'severance' into a community.
The provision of services at the neighbourhood level in a form which involves local
people - perhaps through voluntary action - can be an issue for public policy. Especially
in disadvantaged areas such services can be designed to strengthen communities and
foster individual confidence - possibly to promote independence and reduce reliance
on State provision more generally. The provision of some form of community transport
service, as well as catering for specific travel needs referred to above, can contribute
to these wider aims.
11.3 The role of objectives
The very existence of policy-making and planning reflects the importance we attach to
choice and a belief in our ability to exercise it. On the face of it there should be little
difficulty in saying broadly what we would like to see in future, particularly in terms
of improvements relative to the existing situation. We probably won't be sure exactly
what needs to be done in order to bring about the desired conditions - that is the
purpose of successive levels of planning to explore and test possible options.
In practice however the business of setting objectives is problematic. The principal
reason for this is the divergence between the politician's interest in generality and
flexibility and the professional manager's interest in specificity and consistency.
For politicians, 'statements of intent' are in effect their marketing material. In order
to win support they need to offer a prospectus which is attractive to their electorate.
This means putting forward aspirations which appeal to a wide body of the population
and which preferably avoid alienating others. In responding to the concerns of
particular groups it may be tempting to offer more than can be delivered (because
of insufficient resources or because addressing one issue will in practice conflict with
another). In this context a formal set of objectives and priorities, published for all the
world to see and pore over, could easily be regarded as unhelpful to political leaders -
boxing them in and providing ready ammunition to their opponents for years after to
hold them to account.
And yet, in their role as heads of government departments or portfolio holders in
local authorities, senior politicians will recognise that some such statement is required
in order that administrators or managers responsible for professional teams are given
clear direction to guide their work. (In the case of executive agencies, providing them
with such directives is a formal requirement.) Because managers are dealing with a
complex mix of activities - some routine, some one-off - and with plans and projects
which take several years to bring to fruition, consistency is critical.
Objectives therefore provide a first step in fleshing out broad aims into a more
detailed, operational form. In doing so they give distinctiveness to a political agenda.
They provide a stable framework within which a continuing dialogue can take place
between political leaders and senior managers - and with external stakeholders - in
developing programmes of action and in responding to problems or opportunities
which arise along the way.
Given the important role objectives can play it is perhaps surprising, historically,
how rarely they have been used. However the fact that governments may choose not