Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government has taken since 2015 to reduce levels of (a) waste and (b) inefficiency across (i) Government and (ii) local Government.

The Government is committed to finding efficient and effective ways of delivering public services. The Government announced steps to ensure efficient use of taxpayers’ money in the 2020 Spending Review, including strengthening the government’s approach to planning and delivery using the Public Value Framework, changing the way the government invests in places to level up economic opportunity and improving the management of the government’s capital portfolio.

In addition, the 2016 Local Government Finance Settlement offered Local Authorities the certainty of a four-year budget in return for publishing efficiency plans. This offer was overwhelmingly accepted by Councils, 97% of whom took up the offer in return for publishing efficiency plans.