Think tank gives government advice that 'could be worth billions'

The think tank Policy Exchange has claimed that government might be able to save £70 billion before 2020 by taking on plans such as cutting out paper and shopping around to get optimum deals when it comes to procurement. It claims money worth billions is being wasted by government while it relies on public services being paper based. According to 'Smaller, Better, Faster, Stronger', its latest report, a million pieces of paper are printed daily by the Crown Prosecution Service, for example. Policy Exchange, which has been in action since 2002, has suggested that all government activity ought to take place over the internet, whenever it's not necessary to do things face to face. It says there is an expectation among the public that even the simple services from the government, such as tax returns, are available on the net. Public sector workers were surveyed as part of the report, with 39 per cent saying that having a lower number of restrictions when it comes to using the net while working would cause their productivity to go up. Some 37 per cent felt the tech they are able to access at work isn't as good as the tech they're using in their homes. The publication suggests, among other things, that the government should bring in open standards based electronic purchasing as a default for all of its departments. "Switching to digital for everything the government does would generate billions of pounds worth of savings that could be used to cut the deficit or improve public services," commented report author Chris Yiu, a one-time official at the Treasury. "Government is changing, but the world around it is changing faster. With the internet all around us, it's reasonable to expect government to embrace digital." He said leaders should rise to this challenge, or else they run the risk that a wide gap "between new and old" will rent "the whole system apart". Cast UK is one of the country's leading professional level The think tank Policy Exchange has claimed that government might be able to save £70 billion before 2020 by taking on plans such as cutting out paper and shopping around to get optimum deals when it comes to procurement. It claims money worth billions is being wasted by government while it relies on public services being paper based. According to 'Smaller, Better, Faster, Stronger', its latest report, a million pieces of paper are printed daily by the Crown Prosecution Service, for example. Policy Exchange, which has been in action since 2002, has suggested that all government activity ought to take place over the internet, whenever it's not necessary to do things face to face. It says there is an expectation among the public that even the simple services from the government, such as tax returns, are available on the net. Public sector workers were surveyed as part of the report, with 39 per cent saying that having a lower number of restrictions when it comes to using the net while working would cause their productivity to go up. Some 37 per cent felt the tech they are able to access at work isn't as good as the tech they're using in their homes. The publication suggests, among other things, that the government should bring in open standards based electronic purchasing as a default for all of its departments. "Switching to digital for everything the government does would generate billions of pounds worth of savings that could be used to cut the deficit or improve public services," commented report author Chris Yiu, a one-time official at the Treasury. "Government is changing, but the world around it is changing faster. With the internet all around us, it's reasonable to expect government to embrace digital." He said leaders should rise to this challenge, or else they run the risk that a wide gap "between new and old" will rent "the whole system apart". Cast UK is one of the country's leading professional level purchasing recruitment consultancies. Fill your next vacancy with us today!