Call for public sector to improve productivity
Urgent steps must be taken to raise public sector productivity to help rebalance the public finances, according to the the business group CBI.
Launching a new report, Leaner and Fitter: Boosting Productivity in Public Services, the business group argues that better workforce management, making more effective use of existing resources and new technology are needed to improve the public sector’s performance.
There has been huge investment in public services in recent years, but in the decade since 1997 productivity has declined by 3.4 per cent. According to the CBI, a public sector productivity increase of just 1 per cent a year – roughly in line with the private sector – would have resulted in savings of £31billion a year for taxpayers by 2007-08.
The report includes in-depth studies of examples of where productivity improvements are already being made in public services. Using these examples, the CBI has identified practical ways of raising output, while maintaining or improving the quality of services.
Susan Anderson, the CBI’s Director of Public Services, said:
“Despite the huge amounts of investment poured into the public sector, taxpayers are not getting value for money.
“Given the massive budget deficit, the public sector must raise its game and take urgent steps to address its poor productivity record. That means getting the best out of staff, and making the most of all available resources from buildings to new technology.
“Although this will be challenging, it can be done. Independent-sector providers operating in the public sector are already achieving good results by working with staff to drive up productivity, improve services, and identify practical ways to save time and money.”
Among the CBI’s measures for raising public sector productivity are:
• Focusing on improving outcomes rather than meeting targets. For example, a private-sector provider running the cleaning contract at a large West Midlands hospital discovered that staff spent as much time getting around the hospital as cleaning. The service was re-designing to give staff their own zones increasing efficiency.
• Using new technology more effectively. For example, community matrons in East London have been given laptops for home visits, allowing them to update patients’ records remotely and reducing time spent on paperwork.
• Re-thinking processes and jobs to eliminate duplication and overlaps. Ensuring better co-ordination between ground maintenance staff working for an Essex local authority means that litter pickers now arrive before the grass cutting teams. This has eliminated the need for a separate team of litter pickers.
• Empowering staff to find ways of making savings. Frontline staff often have good ideas for making improvements to services while reducing waste. An NHS Trust’s review of pathology services in conjunction with staff led to courier routes being revised to stagger the arrival times of specimens from GPs surgeries. This, among other measures, has helped smooth out workloads and has led to a 40 per cent cut in turnaround times for tests.
• Managing performance actively and helping employees develop their skills through additional training. For example, school janitors in East Renfrewshire have been provided with extra training on electrical and plumbing work which has reduced the number of call-outs to outside contractors.
As part of efforts to improve its performance, the public sector also needs to address its absence rate, which is on average 55 per cent higher than in the private sector.
