Spending Challenge: ideas page 5

These examples show some of the main themes and ideas that have been put forward via the public sector Spending Challenge website.

They are not ideas that have been shortlisted for further work or implementation but they will all be considered individually alongside the other 60,000 ideas that have been put forward.

25. Local Government (and no doubt other) inspection regimes The new Government seems already to be heading on the right lines over this. In my own Council some years back it is reported that the 22 most senior managers in the services related to children and young people normally met for at least half a day, every week, for a year or so, preparing for their JAR inspection. These are precisely the people who could have been leading the departments in exploring and developing good practice and more cost-effective ways of working. The inspection regime impacting on local government feels as if it has become hugely overblown. I am not averse to external scrutiny in principle, indeed inspectors with experience of many organisations can be a catalyst for learning from one another, but the present burden seems ridiculous. If the true cost of it all were known, the figures would be frightening. At a guess, one could cut the inspection load (and costs) back to about 20% of their current level, and possibly gain in the process. Allied points include: inspections can of course be (constructively) critical, but have tended to be fault-picking and negative, setting up the wrong dynamics. Taking a leaf from personal life, if you were struggling would you want to be 'inspected' or helped to get through a bad patch to self-sustaining excellence. I think it's the same for organisations. The whole approach and feel of inspection/assessment needs to be about learning and improvement instead of being judgemental, tick-box etc. . in my experience the IDeA peer review process for Councils served to pick up key points for improvements but in a much more positive way and by a much cheaper process. Council's could perhaps be expected to 'volunteer' for such a review every 4 or 5 years.. I used to value the Audit Commission's value for money work and maybe this should be revived/extended to help Councils identify and improve key areas for potential efficiencies and savings. Perhaps also the regular audit process could be broadened to give more emphasis to efficiency and cost effectiveness and supporting improvement (but without the heaps of bureaucracy please). These sorts of measures should provide the necessary assurance to Government and learning/support for Councils etc. with a much lighter touch and lower cost. I think there are major opportunities for savings in this area (e.g. fees and costs of inspection) and for releasing capacity within organisations currently bogged down, grindingly focussed on preparing for inspections rather than serving their public better. After all, if the organisation's face is turned towards the inspectors and over-prescriptive government depts., which part is likely to be turned to the customer?!

26. A review of all SCS posts and equivalent military posts in MOD to determine if they are necessary and then, for the posts deemed necessary in which military currently sit, whether a military person, (with all the extra costs involved) should be in that post. A starting point could be the RP finance posts in MOD Head Office. There was a time when the RP teams were civilian but they are now headed by military staff with numerous military posts below. They are finance and accountancy posts - why use military when we are short of military staff for operational tours.

27. District and County Councils should work closer together especially in the areas of procurement, administration, finance and human resources. No Chief Executive of a council should be given a, "golden handshake" if asked to leave early- there should be the same employment rights across the pay structure whether you are on Scale 1 or Hay etc. The pay of Chief Executives needs looking at and readdressing.

28. Annul the government’s agreement with Microsoft to provide software and operating systems (OS) to government departments and switch to open source software and Linux based operating systems. This would reduce costs by: Reducing the need to update hardware in line with new Microsoft OS releases. Linux OS and open source software has a lower whole life cost and is less susceptible to viruses. Support a more diverse spectrum of the IT industry, instead of one corporation; generating additional UK tax revenue.

29. Make the dismissal of ineffective civil servants easier. They are too well protected compared with the private sector and the whole civil service system is loaded against the manager. I have personal experience of staff who have done nothing for over two years yet I am frustrated at every turn by the 'system' which in turn stops me recruiting a useful member of staff whilst continuing to pay a 'useless' one. Proper robust and timely management would most definitely save money.

30. Millions of pounds worth of civil penalties are being levied against those employers in UK who are caught employing irregular migrants. Although the fines are being levied, very little of this money seems to have been collected. The result is that the deterrent effect of the fines has weakened and the Exchequer is owed millions. A campaign to collect these fines quickly should be instigated. This would also illustrate that the Government means business in tackling irregular migration and that there are consequences for anyone employing those who are not entitled to work in the UK.

31. We currently arrange hotel accommodation through [a travel agent]. On a number of occasions I've checked hotel websites to check overnight stay prices to ensure that the hotel I request for my Director will be within budget. On finding a preferred hotel within budget, I then ring [the agent], who quote me a higher price than website prices, presumably their commission. If GPC/T&S cards were issued to selected Director/Deputy Director support staff, we would not be paying a third party commission. I realise there is a cost in processing GPC/T&S transactions, but there's also a cost in processing [the agent’s] invoices, at least we'd save paying the commission, which must amount to quite a bit, even with reduced travel nowadays.

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