Press Release - The Invest to Save Budget
22 November 2002
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported
today that the Invest to Save (ISB) programme has fostered better
working together by organisations, departments, agencies and local
authorities. But there is less evidence of what the programme has
achieved in terms of tangible outputs.
In its study of the Invest to Save Budget, the NAO found that
that just over a third of the 260 projects are intended to achieve
efficiency gains and two-thirds improvements in service delivery.
The expected benefits to costs on ISB projects are of the order of
two to one.
Twenty-eight per cent (£88 million) of the £310 million spent so
far has been allocated to projects to deliver improvements in
health, education, transport and tackling crime. A further
twenty-eight percent has been allocated to delivering local
improvements in public service delivery mainly through better use
of IT.
Many projects are at the early stages of implementation. Only 40
(15 per cent) of the 260 projects supported in the first three
rounds of the ISB programme were completed by July 2002. It is
therefore not yet possible to assess fully what the ISB programme
has achieved.
The Department for Work and Pensions’ "ONE" project was well
evaluated and lessons from the project used in the development of
Jobcentre Plus. This is a notable exception. Less thought appears
to have been given as to how the key lessons from other projects
should be disseminated. As a result, key lessons about projects and
the way innovative activities have been managed may have been lost.
Also lessons about the management of the programme in earlier
rounds, such as the need for all those involved with a project to
have the same agreed objectives, have not yet been fully taken on
board by departments. This raises the risk of duplication of effort
and additional costs.
The report recommends that departments should focus more on
identifying the barriers to improved service delivery and ensure
that the projects they propose for ISB support are better targeted
to identify how these barriers can be tackled in new and innovative
ways. Also they should provide more support for managers
responsible for innovative projects, circulate the results of ISB
projects more systematically and give consideration to the
sustainability of benefits and innovation once ISB funding
ceases.
Sir John said:
"The ISB programme was set up to promote innovation and
better working together by organisations. But departments’
management of ISB projects needs to be strengthened to form a
better judgement as to whether projects are worth implementing more
widely to improve services and efficiency. "
Notes for Editors
- This report examines what the Invest to Save programme has
achieved so far. The Invest to Save Budget (ISB) programme
administered by the Treasury is intended to support innovation and
has provided £310 million to over 330 projects involving government
departments, local and health authorities, voluntary bodies and the
police, working together to achieve improvements in service
delivery and efficiency. At £80 million the largest project is the
Department for Work and Pensions’ ONE project to enable people to
claim benefits from a single contact point.
- The study involved a detailed review of ten projects to assess
how they had been selected and managed, and whether they had
delivered service benefits and efficiency gains.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can
be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and
the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 69/02
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