03.08.11
Efficiency savings questioned
Commentators and unions have been responding to the announcement by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude yesterday concerning the £3.75bn in efficiency savings he said the Government has made over the past ten months.
Maude stated that the savings were made in various areas, such as stopping projects of no value, reducing the size of the civil service and cutting use of consultancy and marketing.
But it has been argued that these ‘efficiency savings’ are often cuts disguised; 17,000 civil service jobs were cut, for example. Critics claim that where services are hit or stopped because of the savings, they are cuts rather than efficiency savings.
Responding to the Government’s announcement, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Genuine savings such as getting a better deal from suppliers are always welcome, but the scale and speed of the spending cuts means that they will only be achieved by deep cuts in valued services - and they are now starting to bite.
“It takes a particular mindset to call the closure of a much-loved local library an efficiency saving.”
Labour has also criticised the speed and scale of the Government's spending cuts.
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]