A penny saved
Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:02 am
Whitehall departments have been criticised for overspending by £500m on schemes that were actually intended to save money.
The National Audit Office (NAO) found ministers had failed to offer "clear management" for the setting-up of pooled resource centres aimed stopping costs being duplicated.
None of the schemes looked at had broken even.
But the coalition was trying to sort out the problems, the NAO said.
In 2004, Tony Blair's Labour government promised to set up cost-saving centres to save £159m by sharing "back-office" functions such as information technology, personnel and procurement between departments.
The NAO said the initial start-up costs had been put at £900m but, by 2011, had increased to £1.4bn.
And net savings had not been made as a result of the schemes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17276978