SR04 Efficiency programme

The Efficiency Programme is the biggest current public sector wide "change programme." It is a key part of the UK Government's 2004 Spending Review and has its origins in the 2004 Gershon Review. The programme involves change in all UK public sector organisations and has the following specific targets:

  • to produce efficiency gains of £21.5 billion a year by 2008 to be released back into 'front line' public services;
  • to reduce the headcount of civil servants (those employed by central government departments) by 84,000 by 2008 and to reallocate a further 13,500 posts to front line services, and
  • to relocate 20,000 public sector posts from London and the South East by 2010 (as per the Lyons´s report on relocation of March 2004.)

Here you can learn more about the background to the targets, how departments and local authorities measure and report progress and the reported progress to date as set out by the Chancellor in his Budget Report published on 21 March 2007.

We would like to hear from you - please email us at ceu.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk. For any help or urgent enquiries, please email ceu.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk or call 020 7270 4558.

Efficiency programme: about the efficiency programme
2004 Spending Review accepted the recommendations of Sir Peter Gershon's independent review into public sector efficiency and Sir Michael Lyon's independent review of into public sector location. Since then departments and local authorities have been working to deliver their targets across the 300 initiatives in the programme using best practice Programme and Projects management tools and techniques, including risk management.
Efficiency Programme: Measurement and reporting guidance
The measurement guidance provides information and assistance to those measuring efficiency gains and explains how to assess levels of service quality as well as how SR04 efficiency gains are reported.
Efficiency programme: workstreams and change agents
The efficiency programme is delivering efficiency gains in five areas - procurement, productive time, shared services, transactional services and policy, funding and regulation (PFR). Departments have received specialist support from change agents set up in a number of workstreams. In addition, departments have support to achieve relocation targets.