The Department is also the custodian of the M&E function in Government. The Department has put in place a Monitoring and Evaluation Policy Framework for the whole of Government. The Department's focus has been on facilitating the development of plans for priorities such as basic education, health, reducing crime and creating employment. The main aims of this initiative has been, amongst others, to increase the strategic focus of government, to introduce results-based planning on a sectoral basis, to increase coordination between departments and across spheres of government, and to use M&E tools to gauge progress with regards to government-wide plans and targets; and to foster a culture of evidence-based continuous programme improvements.