GC Efficiency Roundtable
One of
the first actions of the new UK Government was to announce its
intention to make over £6bn of efficiency savings across the public
sector by April 2011, as it seeks to find the ways of reducing
public spending and do more for less over the next four-year
period.
The Government has promised that these savings do not signify "a
plan to fire people", but there is an agenda to clamp down on
"wasteful spending".
In George Osborne's first Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer
on 22 June, he pledged to involve people from inside and outside
government in a consultation over the cuts, including think tanks,
pressure groups and people working in front line services. The HM
Treasury's spending challenge is one such initiative already asking
for contributions from those on the front line of public
services.
In anticipation of the
fiscal challenges set to face Government over the coming years,
leading public sector publication, Government Computing, in
association with VEGA, held a roundtable ahead of the 2010 budget
to discuss the potential severity of the cuts and their
wide-ranging impact.
The roundtable included representatives from across central and
local government and the NHS, and examined how the reality of
Budget reductions in the order of 15% plus were forcing government
departments to rethink the way they organised themselves and review
their approach to delivering citizen-centric services. The central
theme of the discussions was how best to capitalise on the passion
and commitment of a dedicated and experienced front line workforce
to ensure that appropriate efficiencies were identified to provide
best value-for-money and an improved citizen experience.
To receive a free copy of the GC article entitled: "Coming to
terms with the cuts", please contact
VEGA.