13 August 2010
Clothing mogul Sir Philip Green will lead a review of Whitehall efficiency, the government has revealed.
Cabinet Office minister FrancisMaude said today that Green had been picked for his ‘immense commercial experience’ and track record managing large organisations.
Maude said the government
was committed to making savings at the centre, not the front line. He added:
‘Sir Philip has made clear to the Government the importance of his business
remit which has always been that efficient operating is different from cost
cutting and removing jobs.’
Green runs Arcadia Group, the fashion firm whose high street brands include Topshop, Burton, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins.
Among the tasks for Green’s review will be to evaluate both the progress and the recommendations of last year’s central government Operational Efficiency Programme.
He will also assess whether government contracts entered into since 2007 are good value for money.
Maude has also announced that John Collington, currently commercial director at the Home Office, is to become the new head of procurement in the government’s Efficiency and Reform Group.
His brief is to implement a new approach to buying goods and services that uses the government’s scale to ensure the taxpayer gets the best possible value for money.
