A government financial committee is calling for the Cabinet Office to demonstrate stronger leadership regarding the set-up and running of shared services, after finding that such schemes can end up costing the taxpayer more than they have saved.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examined five of the eight shared service centres, finding they cost £1.4 billion to build and operate in comparison to estimated project costs of £0.9 billion. Worryingly, PAC also discovered some departments, including work and pensions, and environment, did not track their total savings.
“Departments which do use shared service centres have been allowed to stick to their own ways of working rather than using a single system suitable for all, undermining the scope for efficiency savings,” says PAC chair Margaret Hodge MP.
Copyright © 2013 ServiceDesk360 All Rights Reserved.