GREEN: PUBLIC SECTOR IS WASTING MILLIONS
DAVID Cameron will this morning vow to overhaul decades of wasteful public spending following a damning review by retail tycoon Sir Philip Green.
Green, who was given access to departments’ accounts, will accuse the public sector of lacking a coherent spending plan. He will call for a shake-up of the government’s property leasing strategy and for Whitehall to take advantage of its scale by adopting a more centralised spending approach. Green said: “There is no reason why Government should not be as efficient as any good business.”
The proposals are also thought to include cutting back on BlackBerrys given to civil servants.
The decision to hire Green to examine cost cutting measures caused a rift in the coalition owing to his family’s tax situation. He is believed to have saved around £300m in 2005 on a £1.2bn dividend because retailer Arcadia is registered as owned by his wife, a resident of Monaco.