This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Efficient Government agenda outlined
01/09/2004
At a conference in Crieff today, Finance Minister Andy
Kerr called on local government to embrace the Efficient
Government agenda and look beyond their own organisational
boundaries to ensure that the very best value is delivered
for every pound of public money invested.
The Minister was speaking at the Institute of Revenue,
Rating and Valuation
(IRRV) Annual Conference. He set out the key areas of
the Efficient Government initiative and the expected
savings - £500 million by 2007-08 and £1 billion by 2009-10
across the whole of the public sector in Scotland.
The initiative is backed by a new Fund worth £60 million
over two years to help deliver savings through specific
projects on an "invest-to-save" basis.
Mr Kerr said:
"The Efficient Government agenda is a critical part of
our public sector programme of investment, reform and
modernisation.
"There is a significant amount of good work already
underway in the public sector but it is now time to build
on that. The time is now right for us to look at the public
sector as a whole, and realise efficiencies through joining
up - in purchasing, in accommodation, in support service
functions and in transactional processes.
"It will require the complete co-operation of all public
bodies to be successful. Public bodies will need to look
beyond their own organisation and identify possibilities
for sharing with others."
The Finance Minister announced the Efficient Government
initiative to the Scottish Parliament in June 2004.
Efficient Government will be a critical part of the
Executive's programme of public sector investment, reform
and modernisation. It fits with the Partnership Agreement
agenda of cutting bureaucracy, matching investment with
reform and designing services around the needs of the
individual. The initiative will focus on securing
operational efficiencies which will release resources for
the frontline.
The Executive will work with wider public sector to
develop a programme of specific efficiency initiatives to
meet targets of £500 million by 2007-08 and £1 billion by
2010. Early areas of work will be:
- The substantial savings to be made from better
e-procurement;
- The development of shared back office functions
(human resources payroll and revenue collection);
and
- Streamlining bureaucracy across the public
sector.