29 September 2006
Treasury officials this week shed new light on the merger of the Productivity Unit and the Public Services Directorate.
A spokesman for the department said that the change, announced on September 20, 'would allow us to entrench productivity improvements into the culture of our public services work in a much more effective and direct manner'.
The switch, he said, reflected Chancellor Gordon Brown's determination to improve public services' productivity.
From October, the newly combined office will be known as the Public Services and Growth Directorate. John Kingman, who has long held the productivity remit within the department, will oversee it.
Jon Cunliffe, who will lead the new International and Finance Directorate, has adopted Kingman's former financial services patch.
Cunliffe will also share, with permanent secretary Nick Macpherson, responsibility for being the Treasury's representative on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.
PFsep2006
