Maude and suppliers in first stage of contract renegotiations

Dawinderpal Sahota, Computing, Friday 9 July 2010 at 17:29:00

Francis Maude meets 19 government suppliers to ask how they can cut costs

The minister for the Cabinet Office met with government suppliers yesterday
to find out how they can help cut the cost of the services they provide to
government.

Francis Maude met with the CEOs of 19 of the biggest suppliers, including
Microsoft
and outsourcing firm
Capita,
for talks as part of the deficit reduction programme.

Contract renegotiation is the latest in a series of initiatives introduced by
the recently created Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG), to tackle the deficit by
achieving �6.2bn of savings from government spending in 2010/11.

The Cabinet Office said it hopes to renegotiate key government contracts to
gain savings.

When it officially begins, the negotiation programme will cover the majority
of government?s suppliers. It will be conducted centrally for the top suppliers
and via individual departments for the smaller ones.

?Today?s meeting demonstrates the urgency the government is attaching to the
efforts to reduce the deficit,? said Maude.

?Given the really difficult economic climate we now face, we have to do
everything we can to deliver better value for money for taxpayers which involves
taking some tough decisions. I am laying down the challenge to major government
suppliers to ask them what they can do to take costs out of contracts.?

He said that some savings will come out of margins, but the government will
also invite ideas on how it can structure things differently to reduce
complexity and cost.

?We will look to put immediate savings into effect and also create plans to
further reduce costs in the medium to long term.?

Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2266261/minister-cabinet-office