Budget 2010: Home Office contribution to operational efficiency and smarter government savings

The £11bn of savings will contribute to halving net borrowing and protecting key public services including underpinning the Government’s commitment to protect frontline policing by providing sufficient funding to enable Police Authorities to maintain the current number of warranted police officers and police community support officers.  The savings will come following the work of the Operational Efficiency Programme and Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government.  

Today the Home Office announces that it is committed to achieving savings of £350m per annum by March 2013 from the Department and its Arms Length Bodies.

In addition the Police Service will deliver by 2012/13, £346m of the savings from procurement, IT and business support functions already announced in the Policing White Paper.

Within the Department savings will include:

Arm’s Length Bodies:

• £90 million from improving value for money in the UK Border Agency including through increased operational productivity, for example by improving case management systems to speed up case resolution.

Consultancy:

• £40 million from workforce improvements including through the introduction of new standard rates to reduce the use and cost of consultancy and contingent labour.
IT:

• £80 million from a 20% reduction in IT expenditure in the Home Office, including £40 million following the successful renegotiation of existing contracts for basic IT services.

The £346m savings by 2012/13 from within the police forms part of commitments set out in the Policing White Paper Protecting the Public: Supporting the Police to Succeed. This committed the police to deliver efficiency savings of at least £545 million by 2013-14. For example the national framework approach to police procurement, combined with the Information Systems Improvement Strategy (ISIS) will produce savings of at least £400 million a year by 2013/14 by increasing standardisation across all 43 forces in England and Wales and streamlining provision of business support functions will generate a further £75 million.

At least £70 million of savings from the overtime bill will be achieved through improved shift patterns and better deployment of resources. In addition, the police will continue to use the QUEST efficiency programme in order to increase its delivery to the public by an equivalent of at least £500m by 2013/14.