1. What is the problem?

1. What is presumed to be the problem? 
2. What are the causes of the problem? 
3. What is the scope of the problem? 
4. What is the current policy and what can we learn from its evaluation? 
5. What happens if the government does nothing? (Zero option) What justifies government intervention?

Involve those around you check questions 

• For whom is the current/expected situation a problem? 
• Does the problem definition differ per actor? 
• Who is already involved in this? Are any colleagues at other ministries or tiers of government working on similar policy?

 Before you start a problem and cause analysis, you will often already have a suspicion of what the problem is. We refer to this as the problem suspicion. This does not always mean there is a problem. An opportunity which needs capitalising on can also be a reason for initiating policy, for example policy aimed at encouraging innovation in a certain business sector. The problem suspicion is often linked to the reason for the policy process. That may, for example, be a parliamentary motion, or an incident that has occurred. The reason means that the government is focusing on the issue.

A crucial aspect of the problem analysis is that there is no pre-determination of solutions or policy instruments. During your problem analysis you should make as much use as possible of the most up-to-date knowledge in the form of, for example, evaluations, inspection reports, scientific research and recent statistics and estimates. This will give you a more complete picture of the possible causes, the scope and the impact of the problem. Moreover, you should always consult your stakeholders when detailing the problem.

After the problem and causes schedule has been drawn up, you need to check whether there is a public interest that the government must protect and/or a public value that has to be realised. After all, not all social problems are public problems and interests that the government has to do something about. 

It is important to get the clearest possible picture of the problem and its causes, because the problem analysis provides an important basis for a clear definition of your objectives. If you cannot identify any causes, you cannot weigh up which interventions you can use and you may unintentionally only be tackling the symptoms. You may also be running the risk of inadvertently acting with tunnel vision if you do not assess the problem from different perspectives

A problem and cause analysis is a useful tool for understanding the causes and impacts of a problem. You begin by formulating the central problem that has been identified and for which you want a solution. Make the formulation as specific as possible. After that you need to look at the causes of the problem and, finally, its impacts. You can find further assistance in the problem and cause analysis guidelines. 

• The PPAC problem and cause analysis guidelines will help you draw up a problem and cause analysis in phases.