Almost every government department has missed one of its self-imposed deadline set out in Whitehall business plans, an Institute for Government report has found.
The departmental plans were introduced by David Cameron in a bid to improve transparency in 2010.
"Instead of bureaucratic accountability to the government machine, these business plans aim to bring in a new system of democratic accountability, accountability to the people”, the prime minister said.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has hailed business plans as a “simple” method of scrutinising government.
But the IfG found the Cabinet Office was one of the worst offenders – missing most of its targets. The Department of Health also came in for criticism, missing 53% of its targets over the last nine months.
Across Whitehall, 25% of targets have been missed.
Report author, Justine Stephen said the principle of business plans was to be “applauded” but they were “not yet delivering real democratic accountability”:
“At the moment, we can say who has missed the most deadlines or completed the most actions.
“However, the Business Plans are not yet delivering real democratic accountability, as it is still difficult to access, understand or compare the information they contain. Until these issues are addressed, the Prime Minister’s goal of a new system of accountability to the people will remain a work-in-progress”.