Changes made in 2007-08 to public service pension schemes are on course to deliver savings and stabilise pension costs. However the value for money of the changes cannot be demonstrated in the absence of a strategic assessment of their long term impact on staff motivation and retention.
The Chancellor has requested that the C&AG undertake an examination with following scope: To consider whether key economic and fiscal assumptions underpinning the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts were independently arrived at.
This paper sets out a framework for effective management of staff costs in a challenging environment of cost reduction in public services. It builds on the high level principles set out in the NAO’s short guide to structured cost reduction.
This short guide is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on HM Treasury during the last Parliament.
Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 covering the period 2008-2011
Review of the data systems for Public Service Agreement 9 led by HM Treasury: ‘Halve the number of children in poverty by 2010-11, on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020’
Publication details:
HC: 434, 2009-2010
ISBN: 9780102963595
“My report today sets out clearly the facts surrounding current cash payments from the public service pay-as-you-go pension schemes and the basis for future projections of these payments. The Treasury has performed some analysis on the sensitivity of its projections to changing assumptions, but has not considered the potentially significant effects of changes in the size of the public service workforce.
“Later this year I intend to report to Parliament on recent changes to the schemes, which are designed partly to reduce costs.”
“It is difficult to imagine the scale of the consequences for the economy and society if major banks had been allowed to collapse. The Treasury was justified in using taxpayers’ money to safeguard savings and stabilise and restore confidence in the financial system.
“But the big question is what all of this will eventually cost the taxpayer. This will take time to answer. What we do know is that how the eventual sale of RBS and Lloyds is managed will be crucial to protecting the public interest. The structure of the UK banking system has changed beyond recognition. When it comes to selling its stakes in the banks, the government has to be mindful of the proceeds for the taxpayer but also of the implications for competition in the UK market, so that customers get a fair deal.
“As the crisis begins to subside, lessons must start to be learned. The authorities need to put formal arrangements in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the support provided to banks in order to inform future policy makers.”
