06 February 2004
Public service leaders are demanding a 'substantive' role in the Treasury's wide-ranging efficiency review amid mounting concerns that ministers will impose 'unrealistic' and 'unworkable' reforms on the sector, Public Finance has learned.
As PF went to press, senior health and local government figures were due to hold talks with Sir Peter Gershon, the top mandarin leading the review, to outline their worries and argue for greater involvement in his drive to cut costs.
Chancellor Gordon Brown has drafted in Gershon to comb every aspect of Whitehall departments' budgets to identify multi-billion pound savings, in time for this summer's Spending Review, which can then be redirected into frontline services.
But the Local Government Association and the NHS Confederation are frustrated at being 'locked out' of the review and fear they will be faced with demands from central government that will stretch them to breaking point.
They are also concerned that Gershon's interim conclusions, which have been passed on to ministers in spending departments, have not so far been shared with them.
A senior local government source told PF there was considerable unease across the public services at what Gershon might recommend when he reports back to the chancellor in July.
'Our nightmare scenario is being confronted with unrealistic savings targets and unworkable implementation plans. That is precisely why we want a more substantive discussion between us and the review group, so that realistic objectives can be drawn up.'
The source went on: 'So far we have had no indication of the scale of the savings that Gershon is looking to make. That in itself worries us.'
LGA chair Sir Jeremy Beecham was due to meet Gershon on February 5 to push for a formal role in the review process. The following day the NHS Confederation was set to host a seminar for Gershon and the LGA, during which it would emphasise its opposition to 'externally imposed solutions'.
Nigel Edwards, the body's policy director, told PF: 'This will be the first significant contact we have had with the review team, and we were the ones who initiated it.'
Gershon, who as head of the Office of Government Commerce has already slashed £1bn from central government's £13bn annual procurement bill, has been given a wide-ranging brief to look at every aspect of the delivery of public services.
He and his 20-strong review team are scrutinising areas such as procurement, human resources, IT and transaction services such as tax collection for savings.
PFfeb2004
