Denham objectives EUR 20 billion in cost cutting21 Council: 07 21/02/2010, Patrick Wintour, guardian.co.uk, John Denham, local governments, news, poli

Denham objectives EUR 20 billion in cost cutting21 Council: 07 21/02/2010, Patrick Wintour, guardian.co.uk, John Denham, local governments, news, politics, society, news, UK Guardian Unlimited

Minister says that better use of assets can save money
Pilot projects show ways of coordinating services

Great savings of over £ 20 billion can be made at the cost of local services by looking at the spending in all local public services in one area and not just the spending of the Council, the communities secretary, John Denham, says .

His astonishing claim came after digesting the reports in the weekend in 13 pilot projects entitled Place Total who have sought to end duplication and new forms of coordination of services.

The pilot, launched last July, seemed to have received the enthusiastic support of politicians, councilors and public sector workers of all political persuasions.

Denham said that better management of assets alone could save GBP 20 billion over 10 years: an average saving of about 5-6% only through better use of assets throughout the pilot suggests that this could save the region of £ 20 billion nationally.

He said: "Place all is to help identify where there are obstructions that prevent change in general, overcoming the long professional, cultural barriers and funding that have historically proven to be a major obstacle to reform.

"This means a much more open debate about how best to provide services locally.

"Instead of the protection services of its own territory and budgets, resources, which means switching between different providers. This reduces duplication, waste and bureaucracy, saving professionals time and money services - running in millions of pounds - which can be reinvested.

"But it also improves the experience of people, so it gets a truly integrated service.

With the finances of local governments likely to be under intense pressure in the coming years, Denham will test to see how much of the savings can be retained by the local government rather than absorbed by the Treasury.

Each pilot has been a mapping exercise, preparation of total public expenditure in a specific area, such as child health, alcohol or crime. Examples include:

Central Bedfordshire and Luton is only 2% of offenders account for nearly 30% of local crime and it costs around £ 500,000 per year for each persistent and prolific offenders. The cost of local crime was £ 147m. The pilot found that the benefits, prison, housing and probation services do not coordinate their help after offenders were released from prison. The pilot also found that there were 52 different benefits available such as housing benefit grant-seekers and took three weeks to process new suitor. Many said that criminals were forced to re-offend.

Council of the City of Birmingham met in the care of children - is the 2% of the child population of the city - costing £ 35m a year, while 6,400 each crackheads cost Birmingham £ 833,000 in Broader social costs "during his lifetime. Total annual budget of the city is £ 7.5bn.

Kent County Council estimated that one third of the current total cost of administering an unemployment claim could be saved by streamlining the system.

City Council Leicester spent £ 4.9m found in alcohol interventions, and £ 13.4 million in the fight against drug abuse, although alcohol was a major cause of crime.

Local government
John Denham
Patrick Wintour


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