Downing Street Says » Efficiency Board

» Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Efficiency Board

Asked if the Efficiency Board’s main current purpose was to chase the 6.5 billion cuts in spending, the PMS said that the board had a coordinating role; it was there to support and work with Government departments to find savings. The Chancellor said yesterday that the new Efficiency and Reform Group at the heart of government will support departments to deliver savings in specific areas, including renegotiating contracts, maximising collective buying power and using benchmarking to improve performance.’ We were looking at a broad range of areas in order to tackle waste and target inefficiency.

Asked what the board’s priorities were, the PMS said that the board’s priorities were to conduct centralised procurement; implement an immediate freeze on all new ICT spend above 1 million; review the Government’s biggest projects; start renegotiating contracts with major suppliers; freeze all new advertising and marketing spend; and freeze all new consultancy spend, unless an operational necessity. It would work with departments to see where collective savings could be found.

Asked if the board would look at the implication of job losses, the PMS said that the loss of jobs was an issue for the Government as a whole, but this was about looking at contracts/projects that had already been committed to, and processes within Government where savings could be made.

Asked if it was possible for contracts that had already been implemented to be stopped in their tracks, the PMS said that she wouldn’t generalise about all contracts, as each one would have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. The Government had been clear that where there were contracts or projects that did not meet the Government’s priorities and deliver value for money, then we would look at trying to renegotiate them.

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