28 November 2003
The leader of Whitehall's largest union has criticised the public sector efficiency review being conducted by Peter Gershon after the mandarin admitted he would not scrutinise public-private partnerships or the Private Finance Initiative.
Gershon told union leaders at last week's meeting of the Public Services Forum that the programmes, which each account for billions of pounds in public expenditure, would not come under the remit of his review.
Gershon has been charged by Chancellor Gordon Brown with combing every aspect of Whitehall departments' budgets to identify multibillion pound savings, in time for next summer's Spending Review, which can be redirected into frontline services.
But Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, told Public Finance the review would be meaningful only if it also scrutinised the PFI and PPPs.
'We are left scratching our heads somewhat, when it appears that the review won't be looking at PPP or the PFI when it is arguably one of the most inefficient methods of procurement in the long term that the government is engaged in,' he said.
'The government recognises that for IT projects the PFI is not an option. It's time they looked at the efficiency of the PFI and PPPs in other areas across the whole of the public sector as part of the Gershon review.'
The Council of Civil Service Unions, which brings together the five unions with members working in Whitehall departments and their associated agencies, last week made a joint submission to the Gershon review.
The document reflects the suspicions of many union members that, as in the past, efficiency is being used as a euphemism for cuts. It urges Gershon, who is chief executive of the Office of Government Commerce, to ensure that the process will not be used to justify a round of job losses.
It also argues that there should be greater centralisation to exploit the 'very large purchasing and procurement power that exists within the public sector'.
The submission also argues for a system of national bargaining for civil service pay and conditions, instead of the current arrangements where each department and agency negotiates separately.
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