Operational Efficiency Programme

13 May 2009

The Operational Efficiency Programme was launched by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 3rd July 2008.

Building on the SR04 Efficiency Programme , which successfully delivered over £26.5 billion in savings, and on plans to deliver another £35 billion in savings as part of the CSR07 value for money programme , the Operational Efficiency Programme has taken a close look at achieving greater efficiency in a number of cross-cutting areas:

back office operations and IT, led by Dr Martin Read
collaborative procurement, led by Martin Jay
asset management and sales, led by Gerry Grimstone
property, led by Lord Carter of Coles
local incentives and empowerment, led by Sir Michael Bichard

The first four workstrands of the programme draw on valuable private sector expertise. Martin Read, Martin Jay, Gerry Grimstone, and Lord Carter of Coles have provided advice and challenge to government to ensure that the Government's plans are as ambitious as possible. The fifth strand, led by Sir Michael Bichard, has looked at how to go further in local collaboration and innovation, tapping into the experience of frontline professionals to increase efficiency and service outcomes. The programme reported on 21 April 2009.

Findings

A number of themes emerged throughout the programme, building on the best of private and public sector practice to achieve:

consistent, comparable data – organisations need consistent, comparable data to be able to benchmark their performance against others to know whether the services they deliver constitute good value for money. Both public and private sector best practice should be used to raise standards
incentives – an effective system of incentives and sanctions across the public sector would create the right conditions for all organisations and individuals to maximise their contribution to the delivery of high quality public services in an efficient manner
structures and tools – the right structures (e.g. shared service centres and professional buying organisations) and tools (such as software which allows access to collaborative procurement deals) need to be in place to help organisations and their staff achieve the savings they are being asked to achieve
accountability and performance management – organisations should have the flexibility to decide on the most appropriate methods of delivering savings, suited to their circumstances, but all elements of the public sector must respond to the efficiency challenge. To maximise the benefits across the public sector, there is a need for robust, proportionate accountability mechanisms. With consistent, comparable data, those who are currently under-performing can be identified and supported to improve quickly

Full details of findings and recommendations can be found in the Operational Efficiency Programme: final report.

More details on the terms of reference for each workstrand can be found in the Operational Efficiency Programme Prospectus .

Operational Efficiency Programme

Findings

Links