By Tash Shifrin
30 July 2009
It is ‘unclear’ whether the government’s efficiency programmes offer real value for money, a powerful committee of MPs has found.
In a July 28 report, the Commons Treasury select committee noted that the National Audit Office had highlighted ‘serious problems in measuring efficiency’.
The MPs added: ‘We raise concerns that the NAO did not audit the final Gershon efficiency savings and that this has led to a lack of confidence on the part of some organisations in respect of the reported savings.’
The committee examined the costs and savings of major efficiency programmes, but said it was ‘currently unclear whether such programmes represent real value for money’.
The forthcoming squeeze on public spending will bring renewed pressure for greater efficiency in the public sector and it was ‘vital that any savings made are properly recognised and quantified’, the MPs said.
Chancellor Alistair Darling’s pledge of further efficiency savings in the current Spending Review period ‘did not inspire confidence’, the committee added, as he had not consulted Whitehall departments first.
‘We are concerned that the additional £5bn added to the value-for-money target in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report was the figure chosen by ministers without prior consultation with the relevant departments,’ the MPs said.
They urged ‘a more business-led approach to cost-cutting in the public sector than setting an arbitrary target and requiring the civil service to meet it’.
Michael Fallon, the chair of the Treasury subcommittee, said: ‘Now that the level of public debt has reached such gargantuan proportions, it is important that the government takes steps, not only to improve efficiency in the public sector, but also to account more clearly and accurately for the savings it is making.’
The MPs also examined staff morale at Revenue and Customs, where staff numbers have been reduced substantially. Lack of understanding about the efficiency targets ‘especially when service quality is perceived to have fallen’, and increased work pressure had contributed to low morale, the MPs found.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said: ‘We share many of the report’s concerns over low staff morale, the arbitrary nature of efficiency targets and the impact on service delivery.’
30 July 2009
It is ‘unclear’ whether the government’s efficiency programmes offer real value for money, a powerful committee of MPs has found.
In a July 28 report, the Commons Treasury select committee noted that the National Audit Office had highlighted ‘serious problems in measuring efficiency’.
The MPs added: ‘We raise concerns that the NAO did not audit the final Gershon efficiency savings and that this has led to a lack of confidence on the part of some organisations in respect of the reported savings.’
The committee examined the costs and savings of major efficiency programmes, but said it was ‘currently unclear whether such programmes represent real value for money’.
The forthcoming squeeze on public spending will bring renewed pressure for greater efficiency in the public sector and it was ‘vital that any savings made are properly recognised and quantified’, the MPs said.
Chancellor Alistair Darling’s pledge of further efficiency savings in the current Spending Review period ‘did not inspire confidence’, the committee added, as he had not consulted Whitehall departments first.
‘We are concerned that the additional £5bn added to the value-for-money target in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report was the figure chosen by ministers without prior consultation with the relevant departments,’ the MPs said.
They urged ‘a more business-led approach to cost-cutting in the public sector than setting an arbitrary target and requiring the civil service to meet it’.
Michael Fallon, the chair of the Treasury subcommittee, said: ‘Now that the level of public debt has reached such gargantuan proportions, it is important that the government takes steps, not only to improve efficiency in the public sector, but also to account more clearly and accurately for the savings it is making.’
The MPs also examined staff morale at Revenue and Customs, where staff numbers have been reduced substantially. Lack of understanding about the efficiency targets ‘especially when service quality is perceived to have fallen’, and increased work pressure had contributed to low morale, the MPs found.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said: ‘We share many of the report’s concerns over low staff morale, the arbitrary nature of efficiency targets and the impact on service delivery.’
