Millions of public sector workers, including teachers, civil servants and diplomats, are to be asked for their ideas on how to deliver public services more efficiently to help George Osborne cut departmental spending by £20bn.
Repeating an exercise from 2010, the chancellor and his treasury deputy, Greg Hands, are writing to workers to invite them to take part in a survey to find the best ideas for saving money.
The treasury says the exercise in 2010 generated ideas that helped cut costs. These included stopping the distribution of plastic national insurance number cards and increasing electronic access to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly the Criminal Records Bureau) for employers to reduce the need for multiple checks.
The chancellor announced in his summer budget last month that he will cut departmental spending by £20bn to allow him to eliminate the structural budget deficit by 2019-20. A total fiscal consolidation of £37bn, allowing the chancellor to deliver an overall budget surplus by the 2020 general election, will also include £12bn in welfare cuts and £5bn in further measures to crack down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.
In a letter to public sector employees, Osborne said: “You know better than most where we can take the next steps. You know first-hand where things are working well on the frontline of public services, but also where the waste is and where we can provide better services for less money.
“You know where we can go further to reform our public services, and where we can devolve more power so that local people have more control and local leaders are more accountable.
“In the last parliament, when we asked for your help in a similar way, many of you put forward ideas which saved millions of pounds. It was thanks to the suggestions of dedicated public sector professionals that we stopped distributing national insurance numbers with a plastic card, reduced the need for multiple Criminal Records Bureau checks by giving employers greater electronic access to records, and built closer links across health and social care.
“So today we are inviting you to share with us your ideas for how to get more for less. If you think there is a better way to do things, we want to know. Please submit your ideas through our online survey by Friday 4 September. These will be looked at and considered by the Treasury and Cabinet Office, in partnership with government departments.”