MPs call for transparency in public sector cost cuts
THE Treasury sub-committee has called on the government to trim public spending and be more transparent about the cuts it makes.
The sub-committee’s report on the government’s Efficiency Programme welcomed efforts to cut costs in government departments, but said the necessary structures to achieve savings might not be in place.
Data collection systems to measure efficiency savings were only being put in place after efficiency programmes are launched, the committee said, an “illogical” order that masked whether such efforts represent value for money.
Sub-committee chairman and Tory MP Michael Fallon said the government should consider “more radical solutions to reducing its burden on the taxpayer”.
He said more should be done to prevent staff at departments undergoing reviews from losing morale in a “climate of fear and uncertainty”.