Comment on the following scenario:
The Audit Commission is a public body that has a statutory right to investigate public sector organisations and report on the extent to which those organisations provide value for money to the public. In the context of local government, the Commission sees benchmarking as one way of assessing value for money. It has been doing this since the 1980s, and so while benchmarking may be seen as a recent innovation for businesses, it has a fairly long history in the public sector. Since the Commission has legal powers, it has been able to insist that the various local government authorities provide information to enable a comprehensive benchmarking operation to take place. Contrast this with the private sector where benchmarking between businesses is difficult because there is no compulsion. Businesses are reluctant to divulge commercially sensitive information to other businesses with which they may be in competition. Often, the best that can be achieved in the private sector is for businesses to benchmark internally, with one division or department comparing itself with another part of the same business.