Digital Transformation Contributes To £14.3bn Government Savings

The Cabinet Office has claimed that over £200m has been saved by improving the government’s digital services from 2013-2014.

The figures form a part of total savings of £14.3bn across Whitehall in this time period, announced by the Department’s Minister Francis Maude earlier this week.

The money saved was achieved with the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG), which was established after the 2010 general election with the aim of working with government to cut costs and address wasteful spend.

Whitehall claims that cost efficiencies have been achieved by moving more of its services online and ensuring that the user experience is simple, clearer and faster.

It also says that by radically overhauling technology spend and the way in which it is procured, both government and the taxpayer is able to get the best possible value for money.

“Better management of contracts and commercial relations helped save another £1.8bn this year,” claimed Maude, adding that the figures are against a baseline for 2009-2010.

To support this, the Cabinet Office claims that £62m was saved via the GOV.UK site – specifically by bringing Directgov and BusinessLink onto the platform, rather than having separate websites.

“Look at GOV.UK – it swept away a plethora of government websites, it’s simpler, clearer and faster for users and saved 70% from the annual costs in the process,” claimed Maude.

Crown Commercial Service Overhaul “Created Savings”

A further £5.4bn of savings was achieved via the rebrand of the Government Procurement Service (GPS), says the government.

Earlier this year, GPS officially became the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), as Whitehall said it was strengthening its business-like approach to how it buys goods and services.

“With our new CCS, we have a more commercially savvy organisation at the heart of government, with experts who really know the supply market and can make intelligent decisions by exercising their judgement about who’s the best supplier,” claimed Maude.

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