August 2013
Featured in this insight: Central government & non-department public bodies, Local & regional government
Survey reveals local government leaders views on savings targets: A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which asked the views of Chief Executives and Leaders of local authorities, has revealed some interesting findings.
According to Chief Executives and Leaders, local government achieved the savings required of it in 2012/13 – with 93% agreeing that they had made the planned savings required of them. In order to do this, these respondents identified several key areas – the top three among which were.
- Improving service delivery processes
- Changing support services or ‘back office’
- Reviewing and improving procurement contracts
The services identified as having contributed to savings were ranked from 1 to 5, where 1 was ‘no contribution’ and 5 was a ‘significant contribution’. The following services ranked highly:
- Adult Social Care (3.8)
- Highways and Transport (3.6)
- Environment (3.6)
- Children’s Services (3.2)
- Cultural (3.0)
Areas where investment seems to have been maintained, and thus less savings were gained, included education (2.8) and housing (2.4).
Moving in to 2013/14, only 58% of Chief Executives and Leaders agreed that they were confident they would ‘be able to make the necessary savings for the year without seriously impacting the quality of service delivery and outcomes’.
View more of our sector specific insights: Central government & non-department public bodies, Local & regional government
