Recommendation 12

We noted that, of the reported £3.4 billion savings, the overwhelming majority was attributed to a small number of functions. We therefore asked what work the Cabinet Office has undertaken to identify whether more savings could be achieved from elsewhere. The Cabinet Office explained that a lot of work was being done by functional experts and departments was regarded as business as usual, so was not counted as part of the efficiency savings achieved. It recognised that savings were heavily dependent on the Commercial, Counter-fraud and Debt Management Functions, and “there are more savings than that out there”. It told us that it thought there was a lot of potential to make savings in other functions and that it needed to calculate these savings, ensure they met the audit standards, and publicly report them.18