To accompany the Budget last week, all the departments laid out their contributions to the £11bn efficiency savings that the government says must be found. Ruth Keeling and Joe Wedgwood set out the detail.
Whoever wins the election, the next government will soon begin reducing the budget deficit – the only major point of difference between the parties is the pace at which that should happen. But before the next government gets moving, Labour has already pledged to save £11bn a year through “operational efficiencies and other cross-cutting savings” before 2012-13.
During the Budget, Alistair Darling said the departments would be publishing their individual plans that afternoon. Consequently, each department issued a press release detailing the total they intended to save and giving some details of how that would be done.
In our analysis we have laid out these departmental commitments. While the level of information varies from department to department, there are recurring themes, many of which stem from the Smarter Government white paper: shared services for back office functions such as HR and finance; better procurement; reduced staff costs; energy efficiency; reductions in the number of arms-length bodies; and reduced spending on communications, marketing and consultants.
Our pie chart shows how the burden of the £11bn saving falls on each department: the Department of Health, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Children, Schools & Families bear the biggest responsibility, largely because the big spenders of NHS England, local government and the schools estate are included in their figures.
Each box summarises departmental plans and shows what proportion of the department’s 2010-11 budget the promised efficiency savings represent. This is the ‘of budget’ figure in the top right corner of each box, and shows that Home Office has the heaviest burden, planning to save an amount equal to 6.6 per cent of its budget. The Treasury is setting an example and saving more than five per cent of its budget, as are Defra and the Home Office.
Each box also sets out how much of its planned savings each department has clearly identified. This ‘identified in plan’ figure shows that only the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Transport and the business department have published plans for the full amount they intend to save. Only the international development department has failed to provide any data on specific measures.
No politician has yet set out plans for cuts – but these ‘efficiency savings’ will feel to officials rather like the long-touted squeeze.