Research and analysis

GAD client feedback - April 2021 to March 2022

Published 12 May 2022

Government Actuary’s foreword

Here in the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD), we provide actuarial solutions including financial risk analysis, modelling and advice to support the UK public sector.

We apply the actuarial profession’s technical skills, consultancy discipline, high standards of professionalism and industry sector knowledge to solve financial challenges.

It’s these skills which are at the heart of our mission to improve the stewardship of public sector finances. This is what we’ve continued to do over this past year as the country began its recovery following the pandemic.

We’ve maintained strong connections with clients through video meetings and shared our expertise via our webinar programme which is going from strength to strength. We published articles, reports, blogs and on social media - all of which shared our expertise and provided ongoing information about our work, our projects, and our successes.

This survey is one of the main ways we can assess how our clients view the work we deliver on their behalf. We use the client feedback to understand where we are being effective and valued, and to identify areas where we should evolve our performance. It’s vital that as a business, we continually improve, and the survey results are an important indicator of how we should do that and in which areas.

The client feedback survey ran throughout the 2021 to 2022 financial year. During this time, we sent 243 survey questionnaires to our clients. We received 76 responses, a response rate of 31%.

The questions covered how clients view our work overall and how we meet our strategic objectives. You can read more about the survey’s results which are summarised in this report. The headline finding though is that 95% of respondents rate GAD as highly valued. That is a tremendous vote of confidence and one that we are all rightly proud of.

The importance of the feedback cannot be overstated so I’d like to thank all clients who responded to the survey. For more details about the survey, to provide feedback or to find out more about the services we offer, please get in touch. You can contact us at enquiries@gad.gov.uk.

Martin Clarke

Government Actuary

Overall

We work effectively with our clients to ensure we provide high-quality cost-effective advice. Our client-focused approach means we are positioned as partners; working closely with our clients to understand how GAD’s actuarial and analytical skills can add value.

As our clients’ needs develop, so too does our support. This flexibility means we continuously assess what delivery model works best for them. We have developed an integrated way of working with clients including onsite actuaries, secondments, interactive tools, and quality assurance.

We therefore asked our clients how they rate us for being highly valued.

The average rating awarded was 4.8 stars, with 72 respondents (95%) awarding GAD 4 or more stars for being highly valued.

We welcome feedback because it highlights our strengths as well as showing areas for development. This year we received comments from 58 respondents - a 76% response rate. We use these insights to inform our client plans and to understand the context of the survey responses. We’ve highlighted common themes throughout this report and illustrated these with sample quotes.

In this section we asked clients to tell us what they like about GAD and how we could improve. Many of these comments talked about the service we provide, often highlighting individuals who had gone ‘above and beyond’.

“The advice is first rate: always timely, thorough, and thoughtful.”

“We value GAD’s technical knowledge, approach (friendly, professional, thorough, open-minded, constructive), and the quality of advice.”

“Very approachable, engaged, thoroughly professional, great eye for detail, aware of the policy and political landscape - and invariably cheerful!”

As well as these positive reactions, we also appreciated the improvement ideas. The most common was an encouragement for GAD to be more proactive. We aim to keep learning from all feedback so that we can continuously improve.

Our service

We strive to continuously improve both the quality and value of our professional services and to enhance those services through new ideas and innovation. We’re also committed to providing a high-quality service that is on time, to budget and within scope.

Clients rated our ability to meet their requirements:

• on time
• to budget
• within scope
• clearly communicated
• overall value for money

Most respondents rated our service on a scale from ‘never’ to ‘always’.

Percentage of clients who rate our service as

Service	Percentage agreeing (%)
On time	95
To budget	88
Within scope	98
Clearly communicated	94
Overall value for money	93

The percentages illustrated above refer to those respondents who were always or mostly satisfied with the various aspects of our service delivery. Some 93% considered that overall, GAD’s service offers value for money.

We’re pleased that our focus on project management has resulted in visible improvements, notably in our ability to deliver work on time and within scope. However, we recognise that we need to do more to ensure we consistently deliver within the agreed budget. To address this, we will be strengthening our governance of project management.

Many respondents provided additional comments on our service. These included recognition of where we had done well and useful pointers on how we can improve further. Unsurprisingly, given the quantitative scoring, the main area identified for improvement was managing the costs.

“GAD always provides quality outcomes at a reasonable cost.”

“Really fantastic service across the board from subject matter experts … I would always recommend GAD for analytical work.”

“The team provided an excellent value for money service.”

Our strategic objectives

Central to our vision is for GAD’s value to be widely recognised. We aim to be respected throughout the public sector as trusted experts in the fields of financial risk analysis and modelling.

One of our key values is to be collaborative. To achieve this, we aim to partner effectively with our clients, in order to understand and address their business needs.

We strive to be forward looking and innovative, continually developing and improving. Over the last 2 years we launched a successful, and ongoing, webinar programme to keep our clients updated on a range of topical issues. We are looking for more ways to share knowledge and experience through new hybrid ways of working.

We also aim to be thought leaders in financial risk analysis and modelling by:

• making clients aware of relevant topical issues and introducing a broad range of ideas
• publishing articles and blogs that meet clients’ needs and showcase innovative thinking
• networking and hosting events to share our knowledge and expertise

We therefore asked our clients if they believe we demonstrate:

• collaboration
• innovation
• thought leadership

Percentage of clients who believe we demonstrate 

Demonstrate	Percentage agreeing ( %)
Collaboration	96
Innovation	87
Thought leadership	86

Many of the comments spoke to GAD’s collaborative approach, consistent with 96% of respondents considering that we always or mostly demonstrate this.

When it came to innovation and thought leadership, some clients felt they had not yet had sufficient experience with GAD to comment. Those who did referred to GAD colleagues reaching out with updates on relevant issues, and to the events that we hosted over the year.

“We very much appreciate GAD’s ability to loop us into projects with departments and introduce us to relevant connections.”

“The work was innovative and delivered collaboratively.”

“Overall, the team is incredibly collaborative.”