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RSS feedsGovernment shared services programmes are not delivering the levels of
administrative savings that is possible, according to the
National Audit Office (NAO).
The Cabinet Office estimates
Whitehall departments could save £1.4bn per year by centralising finance and
human resources (HR).
But though projects going ahead in the NHS and HM Prison Service are on course for significant cost savings, progress across the sector is slow.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, said: "Central government needs to get much better at managing its corporate services.
"Shared services have the potential to deliver significant efficiency savings but it is not yet clear that the £1.4 billion of savings estimated by the Cabinet Office will be achieved."
Programmes are in place across government – including the Flex desktop scheme kicked off by the Cabinet Office in the summer – but reported savings are small so far. In March, total reported savings stood at £1bn, £315m of which related to finance and HR. But how much of the figure was related to shared service projects.
See also:
First integrated systems go live at newly-created Whitehall department 22 Nov 2007
Whitehall departments sign up to central IT infrastructure strategy 04 Oct 2007
Government proposal is part of wider plans to join up service delivery 13 Sep 2007
Contract extension will allow more government departments to join payroll and HR contract 06 Jul 2007
Managed service prices to drop as even more departments join up 21 Jun 2007Two large departments will provide services for smaller ministries 22 Mar 2007
Next 12 months will be critical for government strategy, writes Sarah Arnott 18 Jan 2007All Public Sector ITTags: Government
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