18 February 2005
Spending cuts to public services are not the way to convince workers and users that value for money is being delivered, according to research from the Work Foundation.
Research by the think-tank, as part of a year-long study on public services, shows that no-one is convinced by the main political parties' rhetoric on efficiency.
Surveys showed very low levels of support for the policies underpinning the claims and counter-claims. 'Less than one in ten respondents to either the citizen or the public workers' survey regard cuts in resources as the best route to efficiency,' the February 16 report said.
The results will be unwelcome news for the government, which is driving through its Gershon efficiency agenda, and the Conservatives, who have put savings plans at the centre of their policies.
Work Foundation senior researcher Alexandra Jones said: 'People want to see value, indicating that they are prepared to pay a fair price. Improvement is not the result of a silver bullet such as information technology, even though technology clearly has a role to play.'
PFfeb2005
