1 July 2010
Ian Watmore has returned to Whitehall as chief operating officer at the new cross-departmental Efficiency and Reform Group. The former permanent secretary at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills left government in 2009 to become chief executive of the Football Association. He resigned from that job in March this year.
Watmore joined the civil service in 2004 following a career in consulting. He became director general and government chief information officer at the Cabinet Office in 2006 and then head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit before joining DBIS in 2007.
As chief operating officer, Watmore will work closely with Cabinet Office Minister France Maude and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander to make sure there is a co-ordinated approach to reducing waste and duplication across government. The Efficiency and Reform Group is charged with helping Whitehall departments meet their commitments to save £6.2bn in this financial year.
Watmore said: ‘I am delighted to be coming back to the civil service at this critical time to take up this opportunity. I believe that the Efficiency and Reform Group has a key role to play in securing value for money. By looking at innovative new ways of working we can make government more efficient and effective, as well as improving the delivery of public services.’
Maude, who co-chairs the board that oversees the Efficiency and Reform Group’s work, said: ‘The Efficiency and Reform Group, right at the heart of government, has a crucial role in making sure this starts to happen straight away. I believe that Ian Watmore has the right combination of high-level commercial experience both in commerce and Whitehall to get going straightaway on work to deliver a whole raft of savings I know we can achieve across government.’
The Cabinet Office has also announced that former BP boss Lord Browne is to become the government’s lead non-executive director.
Browne will work with Maude overhauling the way Whitehall departments are run and improving governance. He will also work with secretaries of state in appointing non-executive directors to departmental boards.
Browne said: ‘This is a role within government but also independent of it. Its purpose is to assist in the delivery of policy using relevant experience from business. There is a great need for the best of the business community to be involved during these challenging times for the UK.’
