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Better co-ordination of local public services could help hard-up ministers achieve £25bn in new efficiency savings beyond the general election, experts have claimed. A study by the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) suggests radical reforms in the delivery and co-ordination of public services, including implementation of the joint Treasury-CLG Total Place regime, would identify billions of pounds of new savings to help reduce Britain's debt. The report, We can cut the deficit, endorses findings from a report by London Councils earlier this year – conducted by MCA member PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) – which suggested the full implementation of Total Place structures across the capital could save up to £11bn. Many of these savings would come from improved commissioning of local services by agencies at arm's length of central and local government, and could be replicated across other regions of the UK, the report implies. While the study describes local government's role in developing these structures as ‘pioneering'.One chapter of the report, written by PWC partner Dave Allen, warns local bodies must continue their swift improvement. ‘Public services – particularly locally – continue to under-perform when working across organisational boundaries. This impacts adversely on quality and outcomes, tragically so in some recent cases of child neglect,' Mr Allen writes. ‘Locally-delivered services' could also provide £3.2bn in new savings simply through organisations sharing finance, HR and procurement functions, the study suggests. But amid evidence that town halls have been slow to produce effective shared services arrangements, the authors suggest improvement must now come from ‘the centre [of government] asserting the need for shared services to cross organisational boundaries'. To achieve other public savings, the MCA report suggests ‘offshoring' more civil service work abroad and merging some local public services into single buildings. Alan Leaman, MCA chief executive, said: ‘We can reduce the deficit while continuing to raise the performance of our public services. The current crisis in the Government's finances could be the catalyst for a giant step forward in the organisation and effectiveness of the public sector. ‘Whatever the result of the election, it is vital the incoming administration takes swift action to reduce the deficit.'

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WHITEHALL

Reform of delivery 'could save £26bn'

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