Perhaps mislead by years of Blair and Brown announcing new "initiatives" , not by saying what was to be done but simply declaring "... and we will spend £xx billion on...........", current statements from Government departments about "the cuts" seem to assume that the reverse equation that less income/subsidy = less output/activity is true. Not so.
The private sector has for years known that this is a false belief.There each year managements have been pressed to do more with less .Their survival at the next performance review has depended on achieving it. Proceedures and processes have been simplified and steamlined, and obstacles removed .Often the clearing away of a layer or two of management and a reduction in the number of people tripping over or creating work for each other has been stunningly succesful. It may be a novel concept in some areas of the hitherto very secure public sector but it has to happen .Current levels of expenditure and often lower than commercial productivity are unsustainable. This is indeed a revolution.
Government departments,Qangos and local authorities have so far been reacting to spending cuts by simply hacking out activities while preserving central and administrative costs and notably some very highly paid management roles. It's easy to do and some of course don't want "the cuts" to work anyway.
There is need for short,sharp notice from the top. "You are expected to run all, or as many existing services as possible with no diminution in quality. Your task is to say how you will do it, not how much you won't do. If this is too much for you kindly step aside and we will have others with a more open minds and energy do it." This should receive applause from the taxpayer.
