Smarter government

So, we launched our command paper today, on re-organising government to protect the frontline. The basic message is simple; its a plan for driving public service standards up, and national debt down. Our starting point is higher standards. We want to give people guaranteed rights to high quality public services – like the right to see a cancer specialist in a fortnight, if you’re suspected of having cancer. Or the right to a good neighbourhood police team. Or one to one tuition for your child if he or she is falling behind at school.

With strong rights in place, we can free up the frontline of doctors, nurses, police and teachers to innovate – which means we can cut back on overhead costs at the centre; cutting the costs of the senior civil service by 20%; cutting £500 million from quangos; halving the consultancy budget; moving 10% of civil service jobs out of London. These sorts of changes can save us an additional £3billion on top of the £9 billion per annum we’re already targetting, over the next 3-4 years. The link to the document is here. Some of the coverage in the Times is here.