09 February 2007
Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh has reacted angrily to National Audit Office findings that 'efficiency gains' reported under the Gershon agenda are still not being robustly measured by government departments.
Leigh said it was 'unacceptable' that Whitehall had not addressed the problem even though it was highlighted by the NAO and his committee a year ago.
'Don't bet your house on the truth of claims by the government that it has already achieved an annual £13.3bn worth of efficiency savings [against the £21.5bn target],' he declared.
The NAO's report, published on February 8, said that although progress had been made on designing robust measurement mechanisms, £3.1bn of the savings claimed could not be demonstrated. A further £6.7bn 'represent efficiency but carry some measurement issues'.
Launching the report, NAO head Sir John Bourn said: 'Many reported efficiency gains still carry a significant risk of inaccuracy.
'In this spending period, there is more to do to show that all reported gains are both genuine and sustainable.'
PFfeb2007
