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Efficiency ~ Quality ~ Improvement ~ Performance
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The Efficiency Agenda
In August 2003, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer asked Sir Peter Gershon to undertake a review of public sector efficiency. It focused on the Government’s key objective "to release resources to fund the front line services that meet the public’s highest priorities by improving the efficiency of service delivery." His report, published in July 2004, identified auditable and transparent efficiency gains of over £20 billion in 2007-08 across the public sector. However, it emphasised the need to ensure that efficiency gains are not delivered at the expense of quality of service delivery. Service cuts will not count as efficiency gains. Rather, efficiency in the public sector involves making the best use of the resources available for the provision of public services. The Spending Review 2004 translated the outcome of the report into an efficiency target of 2.5% per annum over the following three financial years across the public sector. Every local authority is expected to meet or exceed this target. Across the whole of Local Government the requirement is for efficiency gains of at least £6.45bn per annum by 2007/08. In Wales, the Assembly Government produced their own report, "Making the Connections" which has delivering efficiency as one of its themes, with "Value for Money: making the most of our resources" as one of its four main principles. It has set a target of achieving £600 million of value for money improvements across the Welsh public service by 2010, with at least half of the improvements being reached by 2008. |