Warning sounded over public sector IT spend
Kablenet.com
Published: 21 Jun 2005 16:20 BST
John Oughton, chief executive of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was speaking at the GC2005expo conference on 21 June, 2005.
He confirmed that the OGC was already on the way to helping government deliver two thirds of the target of efficiency savings of £3bn for 2005-6.
Oughton said however, that "the programme is not based on further new investment in IT. We don't propose loading on top of the investment already underway in IT." Total expenditure on IT across the public sector is estimated at £15bn in 2005-6.
He said that the gains should come more from implementing best practice taken from either the public or private sectors in future procurement. Also any necessary changes for efficiency should not require legislation.
Oughton referred to the National School for Government launched on 20 June as a major initiative for future efficiency savings.
Speaking alongside Oughton, OGCbuying.solutions chief executive Hugh Barrett said that future savings should not all come through value for money deals. Instead he emphasised the importance of 'demand management'.
Barrett said essentially this was "about not buying things or buying the right things when necessary".
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