Govt to cut £3bn waste spend after Sir Philip Green review
The government has said it expected to cut spending on basic goods and services by £3bn per year as it implements the findings of Sir Philip Green’s review.
Green, whose Arcadia Group owns the Topshop clothing chain, said last year the government was wasting large sums by failing to exploit its size and credit rating with suppliers.
A central team will buy common goods and services for the government, rather than allowing individual departments to do their own deals. The aim is to ensure that small and medium-sized companies get 25 per cent of the business.
The government has issued tenders for travel and office supplies and plans to appoint a supplier for each this year.
“By using the scale of government, you can drive down cost price a lot,” Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude told Reuters.
“By putting in the central controls we did immediately after the election (in May last year) we have saved over a billion pounds just in the last financial year,” he added.
Annual spending on items such as stationery and office services including energy and travel was expected to fall to around £10bn from £13bn by 2015.
The coalition government is keen to set a good example when it is imposing spending cuts of £81bn across public services by 2015.
“This is not the glamour end of politics but it is where the money is,” Maude said. “Our first responsibility is to take out overhead cost.”