Updated: Added data for October to December 2013.
To help tackle the budget deficit, the government introduced a new and ambitious approach to take out costs and waste in central government operations in order to protect essential jobs and services on the frontline.
Measures include a significant programme of renegotiating contracts with major suppliers and a strict moratorium in five key areas of discretionary spend: consulting, ICT, recruitment, marketing and property.
Updated: Added updated infographic PDF.
This is the sixth paper in the UK government’s Scotland analysis series and looks at:
The paper also looks at the possible consequences for Scotland, if it were no longer part of the UK.
At a round table discussion about the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) co-hosted in Westminster today by consumer campaigners Which? and Cabinet Minister Kenneth Clarke, Which? Group Chief Executive Peter Vicary-Smith threw the organisation’s weight behind any deal that would see prices fall for consumers, as long as their rights remained protected.
Mr Clarke in turn provided reassurance that the British government would not be party to lowering environmental, consumer or health and safety standards when pushing for a comprehensive trade and investment agreement
The discussion was held at the Houses of Parliament, and involved representatives from consumer groups, academia, business and Parliament. Mr Clarke and Mr Vicary-Smith highlighted the likely fall in consumer prices that a successful trade and investment deal would deliver, as a result of import tariffs being reduced or eliminated, and regulatory systems on either side of the Atlantic being brought more into line with each other.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union and the United States, has the potential to be the largest bilateral trade agreement in history and to bring significant economic benefits – growth, jobs and lower prices and greater choice for consumers – on both sides of the Atlantic. It could add as much as £10 billion annually to the UK economy in the long-term. The government hopes a deal can be reached by 2015.
The greatest benefits for consumers are anticipated in food and drink, motor vehicles, clothes and electrical goods, where there are existing high tariffs. Shoes and some clothes face tariffs of as much as 12%, while tariffs on some food and drink products are as much as 30%. A successful deal would mean that people buying cars imported from the US could save thousands.
Lower prices could also be passed onto consumers in telecommunication and other services as a result of greater competition.
Mr Clarke and Mr Vicary-Smith also highlighted the deal’s potential to increase the variety of goods and services available for people to buy, which could save an average household £450 every year.
Group Chief Executive of Which? Peter Vicary-Smith said:
Securing a good transatlantic trade deal should lead to a reduction in prices we pay at the till and mean more choice for the consumer, as well as being hugely beneficial for the economy.
Provided that promises are honoured to prevent any deal being used as a Trojan horse to reduce consumer protection, this deal could be hugely positive for the millions of hard-pressed shoppers looking to make their budgets stretch further.
Cabinet Minister without Portfolio Kenneth Clarke said:
The government is strongly in favour of a trade and investment treaty being negotiated between the EU and the US. Such a deal, if it can be agreed, will give a welcome boost to growth and job creation and bring significant benefits to consumers in the form of lower prices and greater choice.
I have given a complete undertaking that the British government is not party to lowering environmental, consumer or health and safety standards when pushing for a wider trade and investment agreement.
Contrary to what is often reported, the dispute resolution element of the proposed treaty is not a means for giant companies to get governments to lower standards. Investor-state dispute resolution is an important and perfectly reasonable mechanism to protect exporters and investors from individual states in the US or the EU breaking their treaty obligations in favour of promoting some local interest.
The British have nothing to fear from such arrangements. They have already been put into all of our 94 investment treaties with other countries. So far, only 2 companies have tried to bring claims and the government has won in both cases. The British government does comply with its treaty obligations, something which is vital to our status as an open, trading nation.
Trade Minister Lord Livingston said:
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has the potential to be one of the most important trade agreements in history, bringing significant jobs and growth benefits to both sides of the Atlantic.
Consumers are set to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the proposed transatlantic deal with lower prices and a wider choice of goods to buy across many sectors. This roundtable is a great opportunity to underline the benefits to consumers as well as our work to ensure they remain protected.
The EU and US account for about half of world GDP (47%) and one third of global trade flows (almost £1.6 billion of trade daily). Aggregate investment stocks are in excess of £2 trillion. As a result of TTIP, UK exports are projected to rise by £18.4 billion and UK imports are projected to rise by £19.7 billion.
The UK is pushing for a broad agreement that will reduce consumer prices and increase the choice and quality of good and services by eliminating the vast majority of tariffs, harmonising regulations on both sides of the Atlantic and so reducing the costs to consumers, and addressing behind-the-border barriers to trade across all sectors of the economy.
Overwhelmingly the gains are expected to come from improving the coherence between US and EU regulatory systems. For example, the many small differences in regulatory requirements that must be met for cars to be sold on either side of the Atlantic lead to increased production costs for automotive manufacturers which are passed on to consumers. This is despite regulators on both sides aiming at the same outcomes. Reducing these unnecessary differences will contribute to over 50% of the UK’s gains, without reducing high regulatory standards for consumer safety, health and environmental protection. A simpler regulatory landscape should translate into lower costs for producers, and therefore cheaper goods in the shops.
Consumers also stand to benefit from a reduction in EU tariffs and more efficient customs arrangements, which should lead to lower prices and wider choice.
The roundtable was attended by:
The Crown Commercial Service and the Government Legal Service have developed a substantially revised set of model terms and conditions for major services contracts. These are published for government departments and other public sector organisations to use along with this action note.
View the new model services contract on the Crown Commercial Service.
Updated: Added Procurement Policy Note 04/14: model services contract
Guidance on best practice for procurement for public sector organisations, together with supporting documentation.
The new recruits will join the existing group of 15 Crown Representatives to look at wasteful contracts and make sure that the government is getting the best possible value for taxpayers.
The new representatives bring a wide range of business knowledge to government, including expertise in high-level consultancy, banking and telecommunications. They are:
The Crown Representatives network was set up in 2011. It has already helped deliver hundreds of millions of pounds in savings by engaging with potential and existing government suppliers on behalf of the taxpayer. Eg in 2012, a Crown Representative working with HMRC helped negotiate a new deal with one of government’s largest IT suppliers that will save an estimated £200 million by 2017.
Bill Crothers, Chief Procurement Officer, said:
Our Crown Representatives are bringing in top business acumen into Whitehall - our procurement reforms saved £3.8 billion last year and we want to go even further.
The network sits within the newly created Crown Commercial Service. This provides business expertise and manages the buying of common goods and services across the public sector, allowing departments to focus on procurements that are unique to them, like tanks, roads or social care.
Updated: Added Speech "Government in Kiev is legitimate and has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the Ukrainian parliament"
This page brings together the latest statements and articles from the government on the situation in Ukraine:
4 March
3 March
2 March
1 March
28 February
25 February
21 February
20 February
19 February
Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Minister of State for Europe
British Ambassador to Ukraine
UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN
This report sets out the progress that has been made on reforming public bodies, including specific targets such as:
Read Public Bodies 2013 for information on the broad range of public bodies across the public sector.
Updated: Updated 'Managing Information Risk at OFFICIAL'.
The new Government Security Classification Policy comes into force on 2 April 2014 and describes how HM Government classifies information assets to ensure they are appropriately protected. It applies to all information that government collects, stores, processes, generates or shares to deliver services and conduct business.
As guidance for government procurers and contract managers, we have also published
Updated: Added 'Progress on public bodies reform: December 2013' to collection.
Steps being taken to reform public bodies, guidance for departments and where to find reports on public bodies and executive agencies.
Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal (Rt. Hon Andrew Lansley CBE MP):
Her Majesty the Queen will open a new session of this Parliament on Tuesday 3 June 2014.
This publication sets out how Cabinet Office can perform better as a department. It focuses on 5 priority areas where we think that planned improvements are necessary and achievable:
This page sets out the Business Statements by the Leader of the House of Commons for February 2014.
The Business Statement takes place every Thursday morning when the House is sitting, usually at 11.30 am. Statements are available here shortly after being announced to the House.
Updated: Added Business Statements for March 2014.
The Business Statement sets out the business of the House of Commons for the following week.
This takes place every Thursday morning when the House is sitting, usually at 11.30 am. Statements are available here shortly after being announced to the House.
Updated: Added Departmental Improvement Plan for Cabinet Office
Departmental Improvement Plans set out what departments will do to ensure the long term health and success of the department. They are designed to be a useful tool to help departments focus on priorities for improvement.
The model is based on ensuring that plans are:
Departmental Improvement Plans replaced Capability Reviews which were first developed in 2005 and refreshed in 2009. A pilot exercise was conducted from October 2012 to June 2013 and resulted in the publication of Departmental Improvement Plans for: Department for Communities and Local Government, Department for International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and HM Revenue and Customs.
Since summer 2013, the new model of Departmental Improvement Plans has been rolled out across government. All government departments are expected to publish their Improvement Plans by April 2014 and these will be made available below, along with the plans from departments that participated in the pilot exercise.
With National Apprenticeship Week well under way, the Cabinet Office has reported a 30% increase in the number of applications to join its expanding Civil Service Fast Track apprenticeship scheme for roles across government.
Applications for this year’s intake closed recently, with nearly 3,000 young people aged between 18 and 21 putting themselves forward. The scheme was open to 18 to 21-year-olds with five A*-C grades at GCSE (including English and maths). Successful applicants will take up their posts in September 2014.
The Fast Track apprenticeship scheme was launched in 2013. It gives talented school-leavers looking for an alternative to the graduate route into employment an opportunity to earn while they learn in challenging roles at the heart of government. Unlike many other apprenticeships, successful applicants are placed in permanent posts, at Executive Officer level.
100 applicants were placed across 8 departments in the first year of the scheme. This year, the number of places is being doubled to 200, and 16 departments are taking part. The aim is to increase the places available to 500, so that the programme matches the graduate Fast Stream– a long-established government talent scheme.
Successful candidates will find themselves in a variety of roles as generalists or specialists in one of the participating departments – from working as a paralegal officer in Birmingham, to supporting people into work in Hull or helping to brief ministers in Whitehall.
Read about the experiences of civil service apprentices Cora Gordon, Conor O’Connor, Ayath Ullah and Rya Cooper.
The apprentices will be expected to develop a range of skills and will have the opportunity to apply for other civil service career opportunities at the end of the 2-year scheme. This year, in some areas, as well as a Level 4 Business Administration qualification, apprentices can work towards specialist qualifications in IT and finance.
Kemet Hawthorne Pink, one of the first intake in September 2013, is now working in the private office of Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood and Head of the Civil Service Sir Bob Kerslake.
Kemet said:
I weighed up the options and although university is great, this scheme offered me a way into a job I’ve always wanted to do. From the start you are given a lot of responsibility and have to work hard – but that matches my level of ambition. I want to progress, and I have the opportunity to learn some quite technical skills in finance and procurement. Now I’m in, all doors are open to me.
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude said:
The Fast Track Apprenticeship scheme is growing, attracting more high-achieving school-leavers who want to go straight into work. This is a pool of talent we can’t afford to ignore if we are to create the modern, highly skilled civil service that will help us compete effectively in the global race.
Head of the Civil Service Sir Bob Kerslake said:
I know there are many bright and committed young people looking for an alternative to higher education. That is why we created the Fast Track Apprenticeship scheme as a route to success in one of the varied careers offered by the civil service. My ambition is for it to continue to grow and achieve the same credibility and status as the graduate Fast Stream.
There were 2,947 applications to the Fast Track Apprenticeship scheme this year, compared with 2,252 in 2013. Applications were divided as follows among the 7 participating English regions:
Departments and professions within the civil service will continue to run their own apprenticeship schemes alongside the new cross government scheme.
Read the Civil Service Reform Plan.
So it’s been 1 year since I wrote about my experience as an apprentice last, and what a year it’s been! I’ve gained so much more confidence, developed a variety of new skills and participated in some exciting events.
Back in March 2013 I had been an apprentice for just over 3 months and was still adjusting to working in the civil service. This was originally an 18-month placement so I wanted to ensure I made the most of my time in government before it would all come to an end.
Find out more about National Apprenticeship Week and visit Made by Apprentices to see the work of apprentices all around the UK.
At this point I had no idea I was to complete my studies 7 months ahead of schedule in December 2013 and gain permanency within the Cabinet Office. I am now writing this as a recently graduated apprentice who has been a permanent civil servant for the past 6 weeks.
Just as I initially had to adjust to being an apprentice within government, I am now adjusting to being a fully-fledged civil servant kicking off my career in the public sector.
I still feel as though I am in the ‘apprentice mind-set’, expecting to receive a tutor visit or submit evidence towards my unit modules.
Although I no longer to need to do these tasks I won’t forget my journey into the civil service and will continue to promote and support apprenticeships within government. I’ve already started doing this since becoming a permanent member of staff - for instance, I organised a networking event for apprentices across government in January 2014 and showcased government work to students at a careers fair in London. I look forward to organising and participating in events like these in the future.
A degree is not the only ticket to become a civil servant and I am proof of this.
The Minister for the Cabinet Office met students and lecturers working on developing tools and designs to make sure that today’s cities are fit for the future.
View photos of the trip.
The pioneering sDNA tool was developed by Cardiff University’s School of Planning and Geography and the University’s flagship Sustainable Places Research Institute. It uses spatial design analysis to look at street networks and how these affect patterns of urban activity. Local authorities and architects are already using it to help understand how cities use land, and how this affects efficiency and residents’ wellbeing.
Students also showed off their regeneration exhibition of Swansea High Street. The strategy and design work was developed with Swansea City Council and is informing the way the historic High Street can be regenerated to serve today’s business and retail needs.
Innovations like these will help inform the government’s property strategy. This has already seen more than £1.25 billion raised in capital receipts in the past 3 years, with a further £5 billion of land and property to be released between 2015 and 2020.
Find out how to rent government workspace or challenge the government to release land that you think could be better used.
Francis Maude said:
It is great to see the fascinating work that Cardiff University is doing to create efficient cities that best serve their communities and to hear about the regeneration of Swansea High Street. There are lessons here that many town centres across the country can learn from.
Efficiency is at the heart of this government’s long-term economic plan. It’s this approach which helped save hard-working taxpayers £10 billion last year alone. But we want to do more, including releasing more surplus properties that could be put to better use.
I’m interested in how analysis from initiatives like Cardiff University’s sDNA tool could help my officials examine how our plans will shape the local environment in the future.
Alain Chiaradia, lecturer in Urban Design at the School of Planning & Geography said:
The sDNA tool helps drive better and more reliable evidence-based urban planning and design.
Through our work we have found that sDNA enables far more efficient and effective spatial planning analysis. The tool models low-cost “what if” scenarios providing a better understanding of the impacts on health and wealth before investments are made.
Another innovative element of the sDNA project has been combining sDNA software with off-the-shelf open data, and industry standards, to improve the analysis of spatial planning and design.
Updated: Added workforce data for January 2014.
Monthly management information on staff numbers and paybill costs in Cabinet Office and non-consolidated performance related pay data for Cabinet Office.
Notes to accompany the release of monthly workforce management information:
These figures are not official statistics. They are internal workforce management information published in the interests of transparency.
These figures have not been reconciled centrally with any national statistics. Where differences appear between the monthly information and national statistics, clarifying comments are provided.
The ONS quarterly public sector employment survey continues to provide an official headline measure for comparing the overall size of employment in central government organisations with other sectors of the economy at the relevant quarterly reference point.
Given the wide range of organisations covered, caution should be exercised when drawing inferences from the figures and care should be taken when making comparisons between organisations. Users of this management information should refer to any additional commentary and notes where these are provided.
Updated: Added March 2014 progress update report.
The government made a commitment in the coalition government agreement to “… support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises, and enable these groups to have much greater involvement in the running of public services”.
The first report discusses:
The second report provides a progress update on opening up public service delivery to the voluntary sector since December 2012. It also sets out how the government has been improving access to public service delivery opportunities for the voluntary, charity and social enterprise (VCSE) sector by: