By Richard Johnstone | 1 April 2014
The Cabinet Office must work closely with other Whitehall departments to ensure forecast savings from shared services, including some finance functions, are realised, auditors have said.
Publishing an update on the government’s shared services strategy, the National Audit Office said the Cabinet Office needed to ensure departments signed up to a standard operating model and did not implement unnecessary changes that could increase costs.
In December 2012, the Cabinet Office published its Next Generation Shared Services strategy, which set out plans to reduce the cost of administering finance, human resources and procurement services through sharing back-office functions. It estimated that savings worth between £400m and £600m a year could eventually be made.
This revised strategy was intended to address concerned raised by both the NAO and the Public Accounts Committee that over-specification by individual departments was hitting the cross-government savings drive.
The Cabinet Office still needed to ensure departments used the standard provision, the NAO’s Update on the Next Generation Shared Services strategy report stated yesterday.
Two shared service centres are currently operating under the revised plan, based on those initially established by the Department for Transport and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Auditors also said the Cabinet Office must better monitor the savings to ensure a clear distinction between those made through sharing as opposed to those resulting from spending cuts.
Auditor general Amyas Morse said the Cabinet Office had made progress with implementing its strategy.
‘However, as the initiative enters its most challenging phase, it is crucial that the Cabinet Office fully address previous recommendations by the Public Accounts Committee,’ he added.
‘In particular, lessons from intelligent customers should be shared, and the department should prepare and communicate performance benchmarks.
‘There will be a tension between getting departments to join the centres and sticking to the programme’s timetable, and maintaining a standard operating model that is acceptable to all users.’
Responding to the report, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: ‘We are reforming Whitehall as part of our long-term economic plan to save taxpayers money and ensure the country lives within its means.
‘The National Audit Office considers that our shared services programme is broadly on track. We will consider their recommendations in detail but we already know that there’s more to do to slash duplication and ensure value for the taxpayer.’
