|
HM Treasury publishes Operational Efficiency Programme final report
On 21 April 2009, the findings of the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP), which was launched last July, were published. They show scope for a further £15 billion of public sector efficiency savings.
The five senior external advisors appointed last year to lead the reviews have identified a total of £15 billion annual savings from back office operations and IT, collaborative procurement, asset management and sales, property and local incentives and empowerment. Their assessment is that around £6 billion of these will be delivered as part of plans in the current spending review period (ending in March 2011), contributing to the £35 billion efficiency target, with the rest being delivered by the end of the next spending period (March 2014).
In summary, the findings are:
- Back office operations and IT, led by Dr Martin Read, recommends better management information, benchmarking and review of costs and better governance of IT-enabled change programmes to achieve £4 billion of savings a year on back office operations, and £3.2 billion of savings a year on IT spending;
- Collaborative procurement, led by Martin Jay, has found that £6.1 billion of savings a year are possible through harnessing the public sector’s collective buying power by buying more goods in a collaborative way and driving more procurement spending through collaborative channels;
- Asset management and sales, led by Gerry Grimstone, has concluded that there is potential for the Government to realise greater value from its commercial asset base, and reports progress on studies into specific assets (including amongst other assets British Waterways, the Dartford Crossing, Land Registry and the QE II conference centre).
- Property, led by Lord Carter of Coles, has found that up to £1.5 billion of annual running cost efficiencies could be achieved by 2013-14, rising to £5 billion a year over a ten year period. Furthermore, £20 billion of proceeds from property sales (excluding council housing) may be possible over a ten year period. To achieve this, he has recommended a series of specific incentives and mechanisms, including the creation of a small, strategic central property function to drive the efficiency and rationalisation agenda across the public sector;
- Local incentives and empowerment, led by Sir Michael Bichard, has made a series of recommendations aimed at empowering professionals to collaborate and innovate, and creating the space for this by reducing burdens on the frontline.
The full report and further information can be found at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/vfm_operational_efficiency.htm
(Posted 22 April 2009) |
Print
