Spending Challenge: ideas being taken forward at Spending Review

Following an invitation to public sector workers and members of the public to submit their money saving ideas to the Spending Challenge website over the summer, departments are committing to taking a number of suggestions forward at Spending Review. Some of these are contained in the Spending Review document, and a full list is set out below.

This is not the end of the process - Departments will continue to review the ideas we received and implement those that can help to save money and deliver efficiencies over the Spending Review period.

Full list of Spending Challenge announcements

The ideas we’re taking forward as policy today range from common-sense suggestions on reducing waste and bureaucracy to reforms to drive through efficiency and improve performance. They show that the ideas public sector workers and members of the public have generated can help the country tackle the budget deficit and support public services. They include reforms to:

Increase the portability of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks by making greater use of electronic access for employers reducing the need for multiple checks. The Government will legislate for this this session. As a first step Government is reducing the number of CRB checks required for junior doctors, saving £1 million per year.
Stop the distribution of National Insurance numbers to people with a letter rather than a plastic card, saving Government up to a £1 million per year. In 2011, the Government will introduce a new system for distributing National Insurance numbers to people which will see the plastic National Insurance number card replaced with a letter. In the interim, a letter will be sent instead of replacement cards, saving £100,000 in 2010/11.
Increase the selling of surplus and second hand Government equipment by expanding the use of the MoD’s eDisposals service for use across all Government departments and the piloting of an online auction site. The pilot website will allow all Government departments to sell on old or unused equipment so that the money made can be reinvested in public services.
Centralise the procurement of commonly used goods and services, bringing efficiency gains of over £400 million per year. The Government has initiated a programme of centrally mandated procurement of commonly used categories and commodities (including Energy, Office Solutions/Supplies, Professional Services, Telecoms, IT Commodities, Fleet, Print, and Advertising & Media), with a projected spend of £12bn per annum to be addressed. The scope will cover more effective sourcing and contracting, buying and paying and continuous supplier management and will leverage and improve existing Government assets, to eliminate the need for further investments.
Scrap the weekly letter to say that Back to Work credits or training provisions have been paid, saving £3 million per year. This has been applied to all new awards from August 2nd.
Change how Jobcentre Plus measures performance, cancelling at least two target management contracts, saving at least £1.2m per year. In future, Government will measure Jobcentre Plus performance internally rather than contracting this out to external parties.
Reduce the use of artificial lighting on the MoD Defence Estate. This could save around 15 tonnes of CO2 and £2000 per year per typical office building;
No longer require Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to deliver hard copies of “Your Guide to NHS Services” to every household, saving up to £2.5m per year.
Mandate the consideration and comparison of open-source software for Government IT. The Efficiency and Reform Group in the Cabinet Office will sponsor research to develop the total cost of ownership models for open source software and mandate the consideration and comparison of open source software options in future software procurement. Cabinet Office will publish a strategy and action plan to drive the increased use of open source early in 2011.
Significantly drive down the costs of in-house Government publications, saving at least £0.5m this year and a further £0.25 million per year in future. In the past year departments have found savings of at least £0.5million by, for example, moving to on-line publications. The Efficiency and Reform Group in Cabinet Office will work with all departments to repeat these successes elsewhere and to look hard at other ways to save money.
Implement new standard guidance on Government travel policies, bringing them in line with industry best practice, to save £100 million per year. This will happen with immediate effect and cover standard guidance on travel, reducing travel through the use of video-conferencing and telephone and eliminating first class travel.
Reform the National Register of Social Housing as part of disbanding the Tenant Services Authority, reducing costs to the taxpayer and reporting requirements on social landlords.
Improve mobile phone contract provision across Government and continue to negotiate with current suppliers to seek immediate cost savings.
Introduce an E-Auction for DWP’s car hire contract, saving £1.5 million per year.
Charge oil companies for work relating to decommissioning undertaken by DECC, potentially raising £0.7m per year. DECC will shortly consult on extending charging to cover the approval of decommissioning projects. The consultation will be launched shortly after the SR.
Issue guidance to re-emphasise best practice on heating, cooling and lighting Government buildings. This guidance will encourage departments to reduce waste on energy costs, helping to reduce the Government’s £95m annual energy bill, whilst saving carbon emissions at the same time
Roll out a generic business plan template across all Government Departments to improve efficiency and transparency. The information in the departmental plans will be published online later this year so the public can make up their own minds on how the Government is performing. These business plans are a radical reform to bring together and release an unprecedented amount of information about what departments are spending, the reforms they are introducing and the impact they will have.
Move overseas Government offices closer to a unified presence, for example through combining locations and support services where appropriate. Every government office abroad will now set out within its 2011/12 business planning how it intends to combine its management support with other government offices. The Government will also look to co-locate HMG's operations overseas in single embassies except where good business reasons dictate otherwise
Further reform the Environment Agency staff car lease scheme, saving up to £3 million per year. Defra expects to have reviewed lease cars provision and have a new policy in place by January 2011. These savings are additional to £767k from previous round of reform
Specify the contractual arrangements to be used by the police service to procure equipment and other goods and services. For example, the police service will introduce, for the first time, a standardised general purpose patrol ‘beat’ vehicle. The timing and implementation of new legislative provisions is subject to Parliament's consideration of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. Consultation on proposed Regulations to be made under existing legislation ended on 20 September and responses to it are being considered.
Develop proposals to align Magistrates’ expenses with other judicial office holders. This will make savings on the current £40m per annum expenses bill.
Outline plans for changes to court business hours, including weekend and evening sessions, in the forthcoming Magistrates Courts Business Strategy. This will improve access to justice and make greater use of the Court estate;
Remove the requirement for parish councils to have two signatories on cheques, removing an unnecessary burden and facilitating the move to electronic payments. The Government intends to pursue a Legislative Reform Order over the coming year to abolish this requirement. The reform opens up the councils' ability to use more modern methods of payment, facilitates the general move to electronic payments for those they deal with and removes the administrative burden of obtaining two hard copy signatures for every payment.
Implement accurate costing of how staff time is used in Government organisations to make sure taxpayers’ money is not wasted on unnecessary process and procedures. The Efficiency and Reform Group and the Government Finance Profession will work with Departments to investigate how costing the use of staff time in their organisation can provide a platform for maximising departments’ use of resources, directly supporting the Government’s desire to strengthen financial discipline and spend taxpayers’ money wisely. This policy will realise savings in the long-term by cutting back on wasteful process and procedure.

Spending Challenge: ideas being taken forward at Spending Review

Full list of Spending Challenge announcements

The Spending Review announcement

About Spending Review